The Last Spartan
by Crazybearfaria
Summary: Perseus Jackson has been at the centre of history's greatest wars for over two millenia. He lead the sack of Rome, the forces that reclaimed Jerusalm from the crusaders and beyond. He has altered human history from the shadows, until he is finally revealed to the Gods. Note I suck big time at summaries, so give this story a chance. Note this is also my first Percy Jackson story !
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

The air was still and cold that night, a rare occurence given the fact that the sea resided a little over a mile away and was almost as restless as a newborn child on its first night outside of the womb. The waves lapped against the shore and lingered as long as they possibly could, almost like a young child clinging to their mother for dear life, slowly changing the plethora of golden colours that created such a wonderous part of nature a sickly golden brown that even the most arrogant of people could see as un-natural...

Several miles away, deep in the heart of the verdant green woods, the peace of the night was disrupted by the angered and indignant shouts of a band of thieves, murders and soldiers as they shattered branches underfoot with a sickening crack and the leaves tore from their resting places on the luscious, chocolate-brown branches like paper. Screams and shouts could be heard as well as the murderous clash of steel upon celestial bronze as a family fought to protect the last hope of maintaining it's legacy.

Another blood curdling scream ripped through the silent forest as the creatures of the night fled to their homes as they listened to the voices of dying men and women as it crept through the forest like the voice of an ancient ghost.

Finally, the young woman who had been running none-stop for hours on end finally keeled over in exhaustion as she felt her legs give from underneath her, the acute pain shooting through her legs, almost making them feel like they were on fire whilst her chest felt ready to burst from the strain she had placed upon her lungs for so long. Her eyes stung as the tears she had let flow unchecked for the past few hours finally made their presence known to the young woman who so desperately needed rest but knew she would find none where she was, even though it was so beautiful.

The young woman had landed in a small clearing no wider than seven or eight metres and was about as long, with soft, verdant green grass coating the entire area as leaves slowly began to fall like the starting drops of a thunderstorm, their beautiful golden brown leaves reflecting the small light the stars above the woman cast down upon the earth, as if trying to offer what little support they could to the girl. In the middle of the clear was a small pool filled with crystal clear water, shimmering and shifting in the starlight cast down upon it as almost as if the very water itself was restless at the events transpiring infront of it... so close yet so powerless to stop the inevitable.

The woman finally managed to find an ounce of strength within her body to allow her to slowly began to crawl towards the water's edge, her throat burning from thirst as if Hades himself has set fire to her mouth as she slowly but painfully used her hands and knees to make it over to the side of the small pool.

For a few seconds the woman considered trying to attract his attention here, but knew all too well that even if she did, there would be little he could do if she did not keep moving until she finally reached the one places that he could protect her from, the one place that she could save her young child from the unholy wrath that had been sent against her and her baby boy. Slowly as she looked over the water, the young woman finally found it within herself to stare into the heart of the water to examine the extent of the damage done to her as she ran from the murderous animal that demanded her sons head on a spike.

Her long and normally silk like chestnut hair that flowed like a river down to the middle of her back was no longer luscious and beautiful but instead matted with blood and stuck together by sweat, whilst several twigs and other pieces of forest rubbish stuck to her hair like there was no tomorrow. The young woman slowly ran her hands over the opposite arm as she examined the hundreds of scrapes and bruises she had sustained, the bruises blacker than the shadows that threatened to consume her both physically and mentally whilst her crimson red blood flowed like a waterfall from the numerous cuts, turning her arms from their normally gorgeous tanned colour to a horrific mix of blood and darkened flesh. She continued to examine her body as she looked to her dress and the numerous tears and holes that now riddled it like arrow holes whilst blood poured slowly yet steadily from the various cuts and gashes the young woman had sustained on her journey thus far.

Eventually, when she reached her face after a few seconds, the young woman could not help but let forth a fresh batch of tears as she examined her face. Once considered the beauty of the city of Sparta, the young woman could have easily passed for a queen rather than just a low-level nobel. Her cheekbones rested high on her face, high enough that they gave her full and smooth cheeks but low enough that they did not stretch the skin beyond what was necessary like a deers skin on a leather makers rack. Her chin was defined and came to ever such a slight point, the skin again naturally stretched perfectly over the features of her lower face. Her nose was perfect in every single way, not a single nook hindered the perfection of the straight line that was her noses bridge, whilst the actual nose itself curled up ever so slightly towards the end, giving her another feature that screamed nobility when one glanced in her direction. Her forehead was perfectly proportional to the rest of her body, just like everything else. Her lips were a luscious deep red that so many women yearned for but no matter how many times they applied their make-up, they could never come close to matching the natural beauty of the woman many men in the city would have fought to the death over or abandoned their wives and children so that they might marry her. But despite all of this, there was one part of her body that stood head and shoulders above the rest whilst leading people to belive that she was a goddess and not a mere mortal woman...

That part was her eyes.

They were unlike anything the world had ever seen, a deep, luscious, sea-blue that seemed to be almost as deep and powerful as the oceans around Greece themselves. And unlike most sets of eyes of the time which burned with a fierce hatred and malice towards others, inspiring fear into all they glanced upon. But instead, these eyes showed a woman full of compassion and love towards her friends and family whilst also displaying a kind nature towards others as well. But also, these eyes showed a fierceness that even Ares himself would struggle to match if one of her loved ones came under threat from anyone, be the man or god, immortal or invincible, those eyes showed that no matter who hurt her loved ones, they would all meet the same sticky end as any meer mortal man would.

But today, all her eyes burned with was a fierce hatred and fear for her son.

The day had started out as it normally would, the young woman's husband would kiss her goodbye before he set off to lead a patrol around the city for the best part of the day until evening came and dinner would be ready. She had stayed at home that day as she continued to cuddle her son and spend as much time with her son as possible before he was finally taken away and subjected to the same torturous treatment as any other young male Spartan child as the city prepared him to become the ultimate warrior, a soldier without equal. Even now, plans had been drawn up by the family as the prepared to name the child, but the young woman was hardly going to let a bunch of old fools decide upon the name of the child she had bought into this world almost at the cost of her own life. No, she would be damned before such a thing could happen. The rest of the day had been spent arguing with Gerdus's father, Risusus as they debated on what the child should be called. They argued for hours until her husbands hurried return with blood covering his body...

That was when all Hades broke loose.

The assassins attacked the family house without warning as they broke into the house and began butchering the family...one member at a time. Each blood stained sword earning its colour after it cut a defenceless member of the family down...the rich blood flowing onto the floor as if it were the blood of any other family in Sparta. "RUN!" Was all Adriana heard her young husband scream as he threw himself at the assassins to buy her the time needed to get to the sea where her childs farther could protect her...but that was only if she could reach the sea before the murderers reached her first.

Adriana slowly looked down to her chest where the only thing that mattered to her in the world rested peacefully after his grandfather had put him to sleep. The child was as bald as the old man and was only four months old...but even so, for a mortal who could see through the mist, Adriana could feel the raw and untamed power of the boy's farther slowly roll off of him in waves that every beast in Greece seemed capable of sensing. Even though the power the boy wielded would be but a shadow of what he would command if he got to grow older than a few months, it was still terrifying to think such a small baby would be so damned powerful.

"My precious little darling, even if Zeus comes after you himself, I will protect you and get you to your fathers safety..." She whispered into the childs ear...even though she knew that her love was prohibited from interfering with his son's life, Adriana hoped she would be able to convince him that the boy had done no wrong and deserved the protection of his farther until he knew how to survive properly in the outside world. After all, no laws stated he could not at least offer indirect protection to his own son, regardless of how he viewed the laws of Olympus.

Suddenly, Adriana was bought out of her tender moment with her son when she finally realised that the shouts and screams of her pursuers were no longer being carried on the winds like the whispers of the ghosts of the forest. No, she had realised that these taunts and shouts were full-bodied and loud, each and every last letter as clear as the next one, their venom filled words and gold driven swords slowly growing louder and louder with each and every passing second, meaning the worst possible thing for Adriana and her baby son...

They were getting closer.

"BRING THEM TO ME ALIVE! I WILL CUT THIS LITTLE BRATS HEAD OFF BEFORE THIS WHORE AND TEACH HER A LESSON FOR DARING TO CROSS ME!" Screamed the voice of the one man...the one _thing_ she hated more than the animals that had murdered her son. Slowly, hatred began to well up inside of Adriana as she considered throwing herself into the small lake in front of her and depriving the animal chasing her of his retribution for refusing the "honour" of sleeping with the God of war and patron of Sparta...and even if she did condemn herself to the fields of punishment, it at least ment that Ares did not get the satisfaction himself.

"No...remember what the Oracle at Delphi stated...he _must_ survive and meet his farther or all hope for Olympus will be lost and the Gods will fall. And I will NOT be responsible for ending the world just because I want to spite a thuggish God of war." Adriana growled to herself as she slowly managed to pick herself up with the little energy she had left along with the adrenaline coursing through her veins. Eventually, Adriana managed to gather enough energy and focus to break back into a slight run/jog as she left the clearing and resumed her journey to the edge of the ocean.

Slowly, darkness fell around the young mother as she continued to pick her way through the thick foliage with a slightly surprising amount of ease as she clambered through bushes using her already ruined arms to shield her family's only hope of continuing on into the annuals of history...the one chance they would have for revenge. Adriana's will-power finally outweighed the sea of utter agony she was in as she forced her muscles to keep on working despite their screaming protests and the constant flood of pain that they subjected her too.

But she kept running.

It seemed like an age, the voices slowly growing quieter and quieter before turning back into the whispers she had heard when she first broke into the clearing where she had rested, their ice-cold undertones slowly fading from Adriana's ears as she continued to run through the slowly thickening forest, desperate to find a way out...but she was tiring. He legs were now screaming in protest and the muscles felt ready to tear themselves from her body. Her entire figure screamed in agony and protest and the prospect of having to keep on going...but the trouble for Adriana was that her mind was listening, and slowly but surely her body was beginning to win the battle.

"I can't keep going...we're not going to make it..." She muttered as she burst through yet another treeline to a wonderous and somewhat curious sight.

Adriana had stumbled into another clearing, this time the entire area was drowning in a sea of golden and brown leaves as they slowly fell from their host trees as they shed their load for the coming winter like a gentle winters snowfall. But unlike the first clearing...this one was already occupied by others.

A small fire burnt in the middle of the clearing, a soft crackling sound like leaves underfoot now audible to Adriana over her beating heart, the soft golden and orange glow of the fire a comforting and inviting sight as the flames pranced and flowed like the most elegant of dancers, the movements fluid yet also raw and beautiful on a level that was beyond intellectual scrutiny, as it was simply impossible to argue otherwise. Around the dancing flames were three hooded people.

The first was clearly a man. He seemed to be somewhat slightly built but the confidence in the way the man held himself spoke of great power and ability from his position underneath his worn, black and tatty cloak. The second was shorter than the first and also very slight of frame, indicating that it was a woman who resided underneath the tatty green looking cloak. The final person looked like a child sat at the campfire with its parents, but the power she radiated and the way she held herself like the other two indicated one thing and one thing only to Adriana...

"They're Olympians."

Slowly the three figures noticed a fourth person was now in their clearing, their aura slowly growing more and more powerful as the young Spartan woman made her way over to the three gods, her tired legs almost giving out with every last gods damned step that she took. It was painful...but not as painful as the hooded looks she was gaining from the three Gods as they stared at the mortal from underneath their hoods. Finally, one spoke.

"Who are you?" The man snarled in a voice that almost made Adriana drop dead from fright. It was cold and dead, almost as if it were the very wings of death fluttering against her ears, the words of the immortal being echoing in Adriana's ears for what felt like an eternity, but in actuality had only been several moments.

Just before Adriana could reply, a second voice spoke up, "Peace brother, the child that woman carriers is born to be either our saviour or our downfall, so treat the boy's mother with respect in these final moments!" Snarled a second voice that seemed calm and in control, but also filled with a stiff and very clear warning to the first character. Surprisingly the voice had emitted from the child like figure still sat hunched on the ground. Finally the third person scoffed before speaking, "You truly believe that this is the child of the prophecy? He is millenia early...unless..." The third figure slowly raised a cloaked hand to her hidden face as she slowly lost herself in thought.

"I am Adriana, wife of Gerdus, captain of the Spartan militia. Please help me! My child is all I have left and all I wish is for him to accomplish whatever it was that the oracle of Delphi seems to believe he must." Adriana croaked as she slowly fell to one knee a few metres from the three Olympians after slowly wandering closer whilst they conversed. The first figure turned his gaze from the other two cloaked God's before speaking. "Who is the boy's farther?" He asked in a somewhat more less threatening tone...but it was still non-the-less terrifying. Adriana froze for a second, knowing that her next words could either lead to her child's death or his salvation. "He is the son of Poseidon. His mortal farther was the Spartan warrior Gerdus. He has received the blessing of Sparta and...and..." Adriana was close to finishing before slowly fell backwards, the stress and pain slowly catching up to her. She expected to hit the floor with a heavy thud but was surprised as she fell onto a soft and deep pile of golden and brown leaves.

"Wait there whilst we discuss the issue." The elder woman stated as she and the other two Gods quickly began whispering to one another, the words unclear but their meaning obvious...

Eventually after what seemed like an eternity, the man spoke. "I cannot save you as none of our powers work on Mortals, but I can save the child but there are two things you must do for the boy," the God paused briefly to catch his breath before continuing, "...The first is to give him your blessing..." He told Adriana in a voice holding neither love or compassion...or any emotions for that matter. But Adriana knew better than to deny the order of an Olympian. The young mother looked down at her young child and felt a stinging pain creep into her heart. She knew what the man's next words would be and she knew who he was...but in all honesty she could not think of a better man to look after her young son. But that was when an obstacle arose.

She had yet to name the boy as per her husband's family traditions. She knew that the family normally picked a name after five months with a small ceremony at the main family home, with the name being agreed upon by everyone. That responsibility had finally fallen all onto Adriana's shoulders...it was both worrying and comforting at the same time. Comforting because Adriana knew that she could finally name the child what she and her husband were pleading with their grandfather to name him for almost four and a half months...and finally, now he was gone, she could name the boy that. But then there was also the fear that the wrong name could make the child look foolish as he fought the enemy and earned eternal glory for the sake of the Gods...and that would all be pointless if he had a rubbish name.

But then again, the name of arguably one of Greece's most powerful and famed Demigod's would be more than great name to name her own child. After several tense seconds, Adreana decided upon the name of her child that would lead Olympus to glory...or die trying.

"I give you my blessing...Perseus." The young mother whispered as she managed to crane her head to kiss her son. The man sighed slightly, almost as if he was releaved over the fact she had finally reached her decision before speaking again, "Secondly, I need you to agree to allow me to adopt the boy and turn him into my own son. He will receive all of the powers and privileges of a true son of my realm. He will lead its forces when the time is right as he avenges the sins of those who wrong others over the course the time of his reign. He will become the one thing the God's fear..." The man paused for a second as if to allow himself a chance to build up some sort of dramatic tension, "...he will become powerful. More powerful than every Demigod who has ever lived! He will become my crown prince. My heir and son." The God paused to allow the woman to contemplate everything he had just told her. A few tense seconds passed as the Adriana finally made up her mind. She had a rough idea of what sort of journey the boy was about to embark upon...and she couldn't help but feel the pride well up in her slowly dying body as she uttered her final words.

"I allow you to adopt my only son, my lord...turn him into the hero I and even the great city-state of Sparta never could..." The woman whispered as she slowly felt the last of her life-force drift from her body...

"_Lord Hades"_

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_Hello people, _

_ What's up? My name, as you have probably already seen is CrazyBearFaria or CBF, I don't care what you may call me. I am still fairly new to the website and I am still trying to grasp and comprehend the number of amazing stories that exist on this site alone. I began writing at the end of June and I have got to say that I don't regret it one bit...but a part of me screams that I WILL regret this story. _

_Why?_

_The whole Percy Jackson series, both "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" and "Heroes of Olympus" are amazing series that I have read from cover to cover and loved every single second of it. I don't regret my choice to read the books. But now I am able to write my own story about it...I am somewhat worried as to how this will all go down. These series have thousands of great stories written about them whilst die-hard fans critique every aspect of the story. And whilst I may never even come close to some of the best of them, I'm going to give it a bloody good try to do the series justice! _

_That brings me to the important part of the story. It will ONLY continue if you guys choose to support it by reading, reviewing, fave'n and following, so I hope enough of you take the time to follow and review and at least give the story a chance. It will take one or two chapters to pick up speed but we will soon be on the regular PJATO storyline. Where I will not say...but we will be on it none-the-less. _

_Any ways, I again beseech you to Read,Review,Fave and Follow, and, _

_Of course guys, _

_Keep it real like a Ninja, _

_CBF. _

_P.S I will put our little Hero's love life to a small poll later on if I get the kindda support I'd like for the story ! _


	2. Chapter 2: The Crown Prince

**_1187 - Modern day Israel, Outside the city walls of Jerusalem, Sultan Saladin's tent._ **

The young man in the room looked at his face in the small mirror he had bought with him from the palace in the holy city of Acre almost a year ago. It seemed like an eternity since he had begun his rise to power amongst the Sultans and warlords who ruled the middle eastern area he had been forced into...and in all honest truth it had been an eternity. The young man could not help but chuckle quietly to himself as he finally bought his dead gaze to look into the mirror, expecting to find something different about his face, but he knew the price he had payed to become the one who would eventually save the world prevented him from changing naturally unless it was a glorious war wound.

Even though he looked thirteen, he stood at an imposing 6'3 - 6'4 tall. His body was built like the strongest of men on the planet, lean yet incredibly powerful and completely muscular, not an ounce of fat could be seen on his well toned if somewhat horrifically scared body...each one a painful reminded of being careless in the face of the enemy.

His arms seemed to be made of rock as well as his nerves...but it was the face that drew the attention of all those who had seen the young man without his helmet or mask.

His face almost screamed royalty to all who had seen it. A mop of jet black hair that naturally spiked backwards occupied his head. His cheekbones were high enough that they stretched the skin upon his face so that they appeared full but not too full or too ghastly and thin. His chin was slightly square but also extremely well-defined as well as his jaw line, again not so much that he looked as if the skin was pulled to tight and his chin looking like the subject of magic or other such means of changing a persons looks, it looked all natural and perfect. His nose flowed down without any form of break or physical distortion which surprised even the warrior as he had been in many titanic battles over the years, and of every bone in his body apart from his back, his nose appeared to be the one thing nobody could ever break.

He smiled inwardly at the small, if somewhat childish achievement as he continued to look at his face. His lips were just like his mothers according to his farther. Perfect in tone and colour in every way, his lips were small but filled out whilst always tappering into something reminiscent of a sad smile...a look of longing that the warrior knew that even after all of this time...he would never be able to lose. Shaking his head, he continued to examine his facial features as he finally drew his attention to the one thing that even his own farther was terrified of...and no matter how hard anyone tried to deny it, this part of his face was both beautiful and terrifying at the same time, like his mother.

It was his eyes.

His irresis were a deep, verdant and luscious sea-green most of the time when he was not in his fathers realm. They seemed almost as powerful as the oceans themselves, holding untold beauty and horror like the oceans in their depths, the colour a reminder of both his farther and his grandmother. But when looking into his eyes when he was at peace, a deep chestnut brown could be seen, holding a certain level of compassion and love for those the warrior truly cared about, as well as a fierce protectiveness over those that he truly loved and cared for, which were a select few, over the course of his long and painful life.

Other times, or more specifically when in his fathers realm or when a great rage burnt within the stoic warrior, his irresis would turn as black as the shadows and nights that the warrior called both friend and tool, ally and servant. They displayed his heritage and his position within the city of his farther, and to those who called him both monster and prince, Lord and demon. The colour only beaten in intimidation by the eyes of his own farther. But despite all of this...there was only one more colour that his eyes turned...a colour so terrifying not even his own farther would look at him the few times his eyes turned...

That final colour was the colour of his home city...the city of the perfect warrior.

_The blood-red of Sparta._

There had only been three times that his eyes had glowed such a fearsome colour. The first was in his battle with one of his old teachers as his frustration grew simply too great at his inability to beat his mentor. The second was during his first quest issued by his farther to achieve the ability he would require in order to hold onto his life if he truly wanted to become the child of the prophecy. The final time was when he was betrayed by _her_ ...

But each and every time, those who had been watching could only stand back and watch in horror as both the gift and the curse of his people finally released itself to his service.

The young man viciously shook his head as he fought off the horrific memories that the colour of his home and of his people's gift and curse. It had been something his farther and mother had helped him control before it could become a major issue and he could descend into the state of madness that even the god of war would find terrifying.

He smiled slightly as he looked at the last few features adorning his face. His skin was as pale as fallen snow and almost as see-through as spring water in the summer time. The only real trouble behind the almost ethereal beauty in the colour were the horrific scars that adorned the young man's face. The first one was a long and vicious scar that ran from the top of his forehead over his right eye before proceeding downwards, barely missing his eye before etching itself painfully into his right cheek. This was then combined with the poorly done and somewhat horrific stitching scars from where he had tried to repair his face as best he could using the little supplies he had as well as his use of water as a mirror.

The next set of scars though, made the first one look like a small playground graze. Three horrifically long scars ran down the side of his left cheek, each one still slightly deep and inflamed after the infernal Ladon's interference. They ran perfectly spaced apart whilst etching into his face deeper and deeper before finally cutting so deep that the skin had been forced to reform around the bone until it could slowly fix itself over the years...and even in 1187 the warrior was still waiting for his body to heal.

He smiled before muttering to himself, "I find it unlikely that lady Aphrodite has been smiling down on me of late." The young warrior finally broke his gaze away from the mirror and to his surrounding tent. The area itself was rather large considering the size of the tents most of the warriors soldiers slept in. Golden lace was woven into the soft silk fabric depicting glorious battles and heroic deeds of both the Sultan and the many heroes before him. "Each one more deserving of a spot on my tent than a murderer and a fool like myself." The warrior muttered in a voice as holo and ice-cold as his fathers.

The floor was adorned with a small rug that was a deep, crimson red that the warrior had seen all too often over his long and bloody life, whilst the deep chocolate like brown of the wooden frame of the bed and other assorted bits and pieces reminded him all too much of the verdant green and brown woods around his mortal world home...a reminder of the beauty of his birthplace that he fought for as well as the place his farther had made him his own...

"Pondering the past, Prince Perseus?" A hollow and somewhat nasaly sounding voice asked curiously as it rang out from behind Perseus. Unlike many of the voices Perseus had to deal with on a day-to-day basis, this one spoke flawless ancient greek that Perseus had waited tens of years to hear, especially when it was from such a close friend. "Acelto, you know you can just call me Perseus." There was silence for a few seconds before a light snickering caused the warrior to spin on his heels to grab his first glance of his friend in decades.

The "leader" of the three fury's stood there with her wings gigantic, raven black, bat like wings folded casually behind her back. She stood at about 5'10 but still managed to maintain an intimidating presence despite her lack of height. She had a somewhat slender figure that Perseus knew was incredibly deceptive, as she was incredibly strong for a creature of her size and build as Perseus had found out the hard way after several "incidents" when he was younger, but now the Fury knew her place after many long years. Her hair was pulled back into a somewhat pony-tail that was allowed to slowly flow down to her shoulders.

Her face was very much the same, defined and somewhat reptilian looking almost, her skin a pale white like his own, a bye-product of spending so much time in his fathers realm. Her eyes were a crimson red that made her look even more intimidating and terrifying than many of his fathers servants. Her ears tapered to a point and seemed almost elf like. Then there were the fangs. They protruded from out of her mouth and rested casually on her lips, almost like a retarded dog that has forgotten to hold its own tounge in its mouth, making her look like a cross between said dog and a very, very, very unlucky vampire.

"Sorry, Perseus, old habits die-hard. Especially when you haven't seen your friend in well over several decades." The Fury retorted with a small, fanged smile as she looked on at the powerful warrior. "Well you can blame my farther for that. He claims that we must ensure that the Gods do not simply let their children run rampant and destroy a culture that is older than the ones they now back." Perseus replied as he slowly stretched out his upper body by raising his arms so they almost touched the soft silk fabric of his tent.

"Well you cannot blame him. Those fools on Olympus have grown childish and stupid without an Empire or country to truly guide. Athena guides the English and the _Holy Roman 'Empire'_. Apollo and Artemis remain uninvolved, with the former simply steering his chariot every day and his sister prancing about Europe in search of monsters and demons with her silly man-hating troupe. Zeus resides over the Italian city states as they try to tear one another to pieces whilst his wife mediates over the crumbling Byzantine Empire. Dionysus helps France from time to time whilst Ares simply stirs up pointless wars for the other Gods to have to try to sort out and Poseidon simply sulks in his palace, destroying fleets to pass the time. Only your father has the foresight along with his sister and mother-in-law to do what must be done!" Acelto argued with her friend, even though she knew she was really preaching to the converted, the Fury could see the boy needed some faith restored.

"Still, it does not mean I have to enjoy putting cities to the sword and digging through the blood soaked past of the evil little bastards the gods spawn every so often," Perseus paused as he placed his head in his hands before sighing and speaking again, "...but enough reminiscing. I take it my father sent you here to help take Jerusalem from that arrogant little son of Zeus?" Perseus asked in a deathly cold voice as he finally bought his head out of his hands and locked gazes with the Fury stood opposite him.

"Of course Perseus. Do you really think your farther would let you have all of the fun? He said he would love to join you but he simply cannot given the fact that he is forbidden from interfering. " Acelto replied with a sly smile slowly creeping across her face. Perseus returned the smile and made for the door but was stopped by the Fury. He looked at her with a mixture of confusion and anger until she spoke.

"I think it would be best if you put more clothes on than your lion cloth Perseus." He stopped and face-palmed as he remembered he was yet to step into his armour. The young prince smiled as he clicked his fingers whilst the Fury snickered at his lack of attentiveness.

Slowly the shadows in the room bent towards the young prince of death and the king of ghosts. The hot, dry, arid air slowly seemed to cool and slowly gain moisture as the shadows were torn from their places as they slowly began creeping across Perseus's body, forming a layer of shadow blacker than the most horrific nightmare. The shadows spread like when the sun's rays finally left the Earth, encapsulating the ghostly white skin until only his eyes remained visible. After several seconds, the shadows quickly began to take shape and form the legendary armour of the faceless Sultan.

The first part to form were his boots. Made of a light-weight Stygian iron alloy, the boots were as black as night and tapered to a slight point in keeping with the areas tradition. Slowly, the leg guards began to form, adorned with golden and silver patterns, the armour itself was arguably becoming a single work of perfect art, as each twirling leaf and each pattern that added itself to the armour slowly added to the almost ethereal beauty of the armour. Finally, the chest piece took shape, a Stygian iron alloy plate-mail solid piece that followed the same ethereal beauty as the rest of the armour, whilst adding a slight silver trim to each edge of the armoured plating. The shoulder pieces were incredibly thin and hardly adorned but still emitted an almost godly feeling.

The came the helmet.

The first part to appear was the main body of the helmet, the shadows gripping to Perseus's head until they formed the perfect fitting base-helm that would protect him in battle. Next came the golden and silver adorations, each one flowing with a certain amount of ease, the sheer beauty and quality of the armour outclassing any artisan that had ever lived. Finally, once that was completed, the face plate soon formed. Again adorned with silver and gold, the face-plate covered the entirety of Perseus's face, leaving only two narrow slits that emptied into almost perpetual darkness, hiding the face of the bain of the Crusaders...

Acelto smiled, "We should begin, the christians will not wait for much longer **Saladin**..."

Perseus smiled as he stepped out of his tent...

And into his worst nightmare.

**(Hade's Palace, 6 am, December 19th, 2010, Crown Prince Perseus's private quarters)**

Perseus sprung bolt upright in his bed, letting out a small yelp as his vision blurred from its sudden exposure to light as he stirred from another night of torturous dreams. At first Percy could hear nothing or seeing anything, nor could he feel. His senses were still waking up and recovering from the shock of such a startling awaking.

His mind was an absolute maelström of troubled thoughts...it had been almost three centuries since he last dreamt of _her_. So why he had began again was arguably the most troubling of all his confused and lost thoughts as he raked his memory to recall the faintest memory of the dream...and was shocked to find out the only thing he could remember was that he dreamt of her and nothing more.

And that was what was most troubling.

Normally, he could remember every detail of that vile bitches face. How she snorted with laughter at his "insolence", how he was "always just a boy" and that he was "nothing but thorn in her side". But no matter how hard he tried, no matter the amount his face turned red with rage and effort, he could not recall a singal thing from last night. He could recall nothing save the look on that vile womans face as she whispered in his ear.

**_ "You cannot stop us."_**

Percy's face slowly contorted in rage. That woman was the sum of everything he despised in most women. Treacherous, lying, deceitful and untrustworthy, his heart almost exploded under the sheer stress his mind was quickly putting on his body. Instinctively, Percy slammed his right fist downwards, smashing into the obsidian bed-side table that once stood next to his bed in his room. Once as he had just smashed the almost indestructible substance on the planet with nothing more than his fists, rage roaring in his ears as he struggled to fight off the curse of his people as he desperately racked his memory as he looked to find a way to clam himself down.

Suddenly, a warm presence made itself know as a small feeling of warmth slowly began to creep through the ice-cold veins in Percy's body. At first the feeling was almost non-existant, the sheer hatred of _that _woman draining Percy of any warmth trying to worm its way into his veins. However, slowly but surely, the bitter hatred and cold loneliness began to fade as warmth slowly began to sweep back through his body. Slowly, the warmth began to stir Percy's other senses out of their shocked state...

The first back was feeling. And the first thing he could feel was how _wet _he was from all of the sweating he had clearly (and still was) doing. It made his skin feel damp and uncomfortable, like he was not in his own skin. He hadn't sweated in his sleep to this extent in many long and torturous nights, making him feel even more uncomfortable and irritable than he actually already was... but even with this back he could not pinpoint the location that all of this warmth within was coming from.

Next back was the sense of sound, and much to the surprise of Percy, he did not hear his mother complaining or his father scolding him for breaking the furniture _again_. The person who was with him was actually shushing him as Percy felt someone gently but sternly forced him back onto his sweat drenched pillow...all the time simply calming the prince of the underworld down.

Percy's mind was absolutely racing with this new bit of information now within his grasp. "Well this is _defiantly_ not Hades, I know he loves me but I highly doubt he'd be _this _openly affectionate. Persephone would have been a little bit more direct and be saying things rather than simply shushing me. Demeter never spends much time down here so that can only mean one thing..."

Percy held his breath in his lungs as he waited to see who or possibly even _what _was guiding him back to his peaceful and stoic self...

Finally after several more seconds, Percy's vision returned and he was greeted by a familiar face.

A woman no older than twenty-five sat next to Percy on his bed. She had a slender figure and slightly sun-kissed skin that was slightly hidden under a long, flowing brown cloak. She allowed her long, aurburn, luscious hair to cascade down her shoulder unchecked like a waterfall. Her face was young and full of warmth and kindness. Her chin and jaw were perfectly proportional to the rest of her face. Her cheeks were slightly coloured red as if her body had applied a natural blusher to them, adding to a sense of natural beauty that the woman carried. Her lips were small in a rather cute way, pursed up into a constant, warm and loving smile that a mother gave to her sons and daughters.

The there were her eyes.

Her irresis were a deep and luscious brown that emitted a sense of both warmth and love, caring and understanding. They belied the gorgeous young face that they resided upon by also showing a level of wisdom and understanding that can only be achieved through many years of walking the realms that both she and Percy existed in...immortal and mortal. The human world and the world of the God's and monsters. Two realms one could only conquer if they had lived and worked in their confines for a long, long time.

But also, the womans eyes radiated an undeniable power as well...but not like many other like herself. No, unlike many people's eyes, Percy's included at times, which simply spoke of raw power and the devestation it could bring, this woman's eyes spoke of the fierce protectiveness and love for those she held dear and looked after...and spoke of the terrible and unimaginable fury that one would invoke if they crossed the woman or her loved ones.

Percy took only a second to recognise the woman.

"Hey aunty Hestia. Long time no see, eh?" Percy whispered as he slowly felt the warm glow inside his body increase at the mention of the Goddesses name. She smiled kindly before speaking in her typical sweet and velvety voice, "Indeed Percy, a century is a long time not to visit your Aunty now, is it not?" The Goddess joked playful, her smile growing even wider as she finally saw a small smile creep across her nephews face. "I appologise...but incase the hearth has forgotten, the last century has been somewhat hectic." He replied as he slowly managed to sit himself up, wincing slightly as he remember the injury he had picked up recently in his ribcage in the form of several broken ribs...the bandages almost invisible against his ghost white skin.

Hestia's eyes slowly began to change from their soft brow to dancing flames, the flicker and movement of each fire as elegant as the most graceful of ballerinas. "Who did this to you?" she asked in the most level tone she could clearly muster, unsurprisingly agitated by her nephews injuries. "I got close to a monster trying to drive a car, let's leave it at that, shall we?" He grunted as he slowly managed to force himself upright with a little aid from his aunt.

"Would you like me to..." but before she could ask her question, Hestia and Percy were cut off by the one person Percy could have done without seeing him in this state.

"PERSEUS ODDYSEUS JACKSON, WHERE IN YOUR FARTHER'S REALM HAVE YOU BEEN!" Screeched an all too familiar voice to Percy's left.

"Oh please, God's cut me some fricking slack..." Percy whispered in his mind as he quickly turned to Hestia only to see the auburn haired Goddess shake her head before speaking with a small smile gracing her lips, "I'm afraid this is one trial you will have to face alone, my champion." before disappearing in a glorious eruption of golden and red flames that caused Percy to yelp out in surprise as he literally jumped out of his bed and face first into the floor whilst praying silently that the realms queen had fled.

But to no such avail.

Percy looked up to be met with an all too familiar sight.

The woman looking down upon Percy was truly _gorgeous _in every sense of the gods damned word. She wore an obsidian black dress that fitted her slender and perfect figure exactly, neither too revealing or too modest. Long raven black hair cascaded down to the woman's perfect waistline, flowing like a river, naturally perfect the entire way down, just like the rest of her.

The woman's lips were a deep, natural red that no lipstick or cosmetic procedure could ever hope to attain. Her cheekbones were situated perfectly on her face, providing both a full look and perfectly smooth and shaped cheeks that were naturally tinted red against the womans olive coloured skin. Her eyes were a deep brown like Hestia's, but unlike Hestia's, this set of eyes contained nothing but utter rage.

Percy finally managed to snap himself out of his utter shock when the soft tapping of the womans foot finally reached his ears. Percy sighed as he managed to find the courage to let a small sheepish smile cross his lips as he addressed his fathers queen, Persephone...

"Oh hey there mum..."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx **

_Hey guys, _

_ Well here is chapter two. I must say I am actually rather shocked at the amount of support I am getting for my first Percy Jackson story. It's actually a nice surprise and a pleasant feeling to see that people enjoyed chapter one and therefore wanted chapter two. So seeing as I was in such a good mood after getting my GCSE results and the amount of support I am getting for the story, I decided to kill some time and write chapter two!_

_On a side note, I would like to apologise if you feel that I came across as a somewhat review hungry bastard. I did not mean to, I just kinda hoped to gather a small following for the story so it became worth writing. And whilst I appreciate that I am only just starting, you guys have been incredibly supportive of me in both the way of follows and fave's as well as review, and I would personally like to thank_** Percabethfluffannoysme **_for reminding me of why I should be writing. _

_To entertain. _

_That fundamental point was slightly lost to me yesterday as I looked to gather a decent amount of support but I must say that the level of support I am getting is wonderful and I hope I prove myself worthy of such great support over the coming days as I remembered that if I am entertaing, such things will take care of themselves. _

_But please leave a review if there is something that is bothering you or something that you would like to PM me about then go ahead, but also feel free to review or PM if there are things you like and wish for me to continue with in terms of my writing style or the story in general. Also I will eventually end up updating only once every other week as I work on my Halo/Mass Effect story the other week once I get back to school !_

_Any ways, as is customary when I have nothing else to add, I will simply put, _

_Read,Review,Fave and Follow, and, _

_Of course, _

_Keep it real like a Ninja, _

_CBF _

_**N/B:** _**I will be setting up a poll soon to see what people would like in terms of a relationship for our little hero later on. Note that I have an idea as to who it will be and how things will develop but I want to hear your oppinions too.**

** It will be a very long, complex and slow to develop relationship, so don't expect our hero to find the perfect girl too soon...and don't expect the peace to last 100%...for all is fair in love and war, especially when I play the Fates and they are known for their cruelty !**


	3. Chapter 3: Breakfast with mum and dad

Percy waited with anticipation. If there was one thing that he had learnt over the centuries as the son of Hades was the fact that his wife, and by default, Percy's mother, Persephone, was a very protective woman who loved her adopted son like he was her own flesh and blood. And she had stood by Percy and helped him through some of the more horrific things that he had done over the course of his life. Hell, she had helped him even partially mover past _her_.

But there was one thing that Percy's adoptive mother did not excuse or forgive so easily, especially after almost a century of no contact.

And that was sneaking into his fathers palace at two o'clock in the morning.

"Percy. Would you please care to explain what you are doing in your bedroom despite saying you would be back later today?" Persephone asked in the most level tone that she could probably muster given her sons deception. Percy slowly picked himself up off of the floor with his sheepish grin slowly growing wider as he tried to avoid his mothers almost murderous gaze, taking a couple of seconds to try and come up with a decent excuse. But his mother clearly saw through his attempt to buy time when she spoke again as he rose up off of the floor. "Percy, don't you DARE tell me that you got her late at night and didn't want to wake me or your father because you know that would not fuss us." She growled as her brown eyes began to flicker with rage.

"Nothing for it I suppose" Percy mused to himself as he finally decided on how to respond to his mother despite the slight ache that coursed through his body from jumping out of his bed when Hestia decided to abandon him to his mother. "I was kinda hoping to surprise you at breakfast this morning but I suppose that is kind of useless now..." He paused briefly under his mothers almost murderous glare, swallowing slightly before finally speaking again, "...look, I know it doesn't really make up for lying but I'm sorry I didn't tell you I'd be back earlier." He finally spluttered out, closing his eyes in anticipation of the severe scolding he was more than likely going to be on the receiving end of...

So Percy was surprised when he felt something warm and gentle wrap its arms around his torso and pull him gently into a hug. Percy first thought it may just be his mother's way of getting close before starting to scold him, so he was surprised when his mother only whispered "I'm just glad you've come back alive Percy." Percy's tense body instantly relaxed as he remembered his mothers bad habit of being unable to stay angry for more than five seconds. He quickly returned his mothers affectionate gesture with his own hug, the smell of fresh flowers from lavender to Roses drifting from the Goddess of spring time's body.

Suddenly, Percy felt himself being pushed away, only to have a very fast travelling, open palmed hand hit him across his left cheek. Percy looked at his mother was a somewhat shocked and hurt look that demanded an explanation which his mother was only too happy to provide for him, "Percy, do you have any IDEA of how worried I have been over the past few decades? I have heard NOTHING from you in years! You could've died! Zeus may have caught you! So don't you EVER do that to me again! I expect you to try to Iris Message me as often as possible or I swear that I will kick your butt around this realm, crown prince or not!" His mother hissed, sending the hairs on the back of his head into a stiff, plank like postion at his mothers words, whilst barely managing to nod his head for his reply.

Persephone scowled at him for several more seconds, both her rage and power flowing from her body in waves...but slowly the power and hatred began to fade as if the fuel that drove both of these things ran out as his mother's rage contorted face slowly eased itself back into its beautiful, constant smile and radiant gaze. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Persephone let out a small sigh as she took her son by the shoulder and guided him back to his bed, graceful sitting down whilst roughly jerking her son into his seat. "Percy...I just...I'm sorry I snapped. It's just..." But the queen of Hades was cut off with a small chuckle from the thirteen year old-looking boy sat opposite her, "Mum, its fine. I haven't exactly been the best son of late. I never call, I never write. And I am so sorry I had you worrying about me again, but I have told you it is not necessary."

Persephone looked at her son with her soft caring gaze before laughing a little before retorting, "I know you didn't mean to worry me, it's just that no matter how hard I try, you will always be my little boy no matter what. And like any true mother, I worry about you."Percy smiled a little at his mothers over-protectivness as they fell into a comfortable silence for a minute, giving Percy a chance to reflect on what his mother had said,"Still just her little boy...how true and wrong at the same time..." he whispered to himself in the back of his mind until his mother finally spoke up again.

"So care to explain why Hestia was here a few minutes ago?" Persephone asked a little bit more sternly with a scowl creeping back across her face, obviously somewhat troubled by the prospects of the Hearth Goddesses visit could mean.

Seeing his mothers expression, Percy could not help himself as he began chuckling out loud for a few moments before regaining enough composure to speak again. "Don't worry, aunty Hestia was just helping me ecover after a nightmare, that's all. She wasn't going to drag me off on some suicide mission again so don't worry." Percy replied as calmly as he could, hoping to every possible God that his mother would calm down and simply change topics. Luckily this time, the Gods seemed to be listening (or at least one did) as Persephone slowly took a deep breath before dragging her son into another hug, carefully avoiding his broken ribs. "Good, you're going to spend some time with us for a while now with NO interruptions..." Persephone pulled out of the hug before pointing to her sons ribs, "...and I expect to hear the full story behind those over breakfast so I know who to go turn into a daffodil for hurting my little bitty boy." Persephone spoke the last part like a mother to her new-born child whilst adding insult to injury by lightly pulling on her son's right cheek.

"Yeah sure thing. See you at breakfast mum." He replied in the most level tone he could muster despite his mothers almost seemingly indomitable will to embarrasse her son every five seconds. Persephone smiled radiantly before taking her leave of the room and closing the door behind herself. Percy sat on his bed with bated breath for several seconds before letting out a heavy sigh and leaning back onto his bed, carefully avoiding the sweat patches in the covers. He let out another sigh as he lay there for several minutes, looking at the nightmare black ceiling of his room.

After what felt like an age, but in actual fact had only been several minutes, Percy finally decided to drag himself to his en suite bathroom. As he painfully pushed himself into a sitting position, Percy could not help but take in the environment of his private quarters seeing as it had been almost a century since he last slept in the room and he had not bothered with reorienting himself with the place last night when he snuck back in.

The room had not changed all that much over the last century, dull black walls stretched to about three or four metres in height, providing the large room it's almost box like feel. The room itself was separated into two different tiers, with each one serving a different purpose. The lower tier served somewhat as a "social area" where Percy could relax and simply enjoy the life of a prince whenever he was not out changing the course of history, making it perhaps the least used room in the entire house. Several sofa's and arm chairs all made of black or dark brown leather were positioned in a small circle like formation around a dark brown mahogany table that had been in Percy's room for Gods knew how long. On said table rested a bowl that conjured up just about any snack that you could possibly ever want, which was a small prize Percy had taken from a foolish, weak demigod a long time ago. Also on said table rested several other bits and pieces the crown prince of the underworld had stolen over his travels, from ancient Egyptian statues of Anubis to a weird piece of modern art that Hestia had "procured" for her champion at the start of the last century.

Around the rest of the lower floor existed a large, jet black LCD TV with full "Sky" TV connection and regular American TV channels. That coupled with several of the Olympian news networks, it was safe to say Percy could never complain about having nothing to watch, even though he rarely used TV's himself as the events of the past few years had left him with very little free time at all. Also on the left hand side of the room sat an old twentieth century pool table made with a nightmare black obsidian frame and a verdant green playing surface. Spread out around the edge of the room where several other dark wooden or obsidian desks and tables upon which several of his greatest triumphs resided.

Next was what Percy had dubbed the "sleeping level" were his single bed resided. Unlike most of the room, the wooden frame of the bed was made of a much lighter coloured oak that contrasted with the rest of the room rather nicely. It was a single bed with simple black sheets and pillows that were as dark as the realm of Morpheus himself. Percy smiled. That bed was over eight hundred years old and still counting.

Then there was the bathroom.

Unlike the rest of the rooms in Hades palace, Percy's bathroom was actually rather bright in terms of colour. The floor was made of brilliant white tiles that could blind even Apollo when he wore his sunglasses should the sun ever catch them. The walls were a slightly murkier coloured white but non-the-less brighter than anything else in the palace. A simple glass fronted shower resided in the back right corner whilst a crystal white bath occupied the entire left wall.

Percy sighed as he finally managed to remember how to open the damned door. He still had fifty minutes so he may as well make use of the facilities available to him before he sat down to breakfast with his father.

**(40 minutes later)**

Percy sighed slightly as he stood in front of his old mirror from his time as Saladin.

The original golden paint along the fringes had long since faded away, leaving a slightly crisper layer of golden paint to cover the ancient woodwork than Percy remembered. The woodwork itself was inscribed with hundreds of latin verses from hymns and prayers. Etched delicately into the framework was also images of Jesus Christs supposed journey to his death and eventual resurrection...

The mirror of Gethsemane.

Why such a valuable christian artifact was in Acre all those years ago when he turned it from the pinical of the Crusaders power to nothing more than a reminder of the fury and hatred that Saladin was capable of...and also of how far Percy had been willing to go to stop that power hungry shit head son of Zeus from causing too much trouble and upsetting the balance of the world. "I wonder how many souls down here would try to kill me if I walked back through the fields in my armour..." Percy mused for a few moments before simply muttering, "Too many."

In truth, Percy held no contempt or hatred towards the people he had been ordered to fight against. They were stout warriors with great skill and no fear of death. But Percy knew deep down that all of this was spawned from the delusions of one power-hungry demigod and a continent of blind sheep...

Percy shook his head, "No point getting hung up on the past...the dead are dead and the blood shed. No point getting all mopey about it now I suppose." Slowly Percy let his thoughts drift from the past and into the present as he began to examine his body after another beating in the big wide world.

The first thing he noticed was how much paler his skin had actually become over the past few years. Originally slightly sun-kissed like his mother and Aunty Hestia, years of operating in the shadows had led to Percy's skin to slowly lose its colour, turning from a gorgeous, healthy tan colour to an incredibly pale, almost ghastly white that absolutely terrified most people. It almost looked like someone had taken the skin of a dead man and grafted it to Percy's body. It looked unnatural to anyone who saw him even just several centuries earlier. It made him look old and tired, and in all honest truth he was old, hell, Percy would go as far as to say he was absolutely ancient.

The worst part was the way the skin naturally emphasised the scars upon his body.

Running from left to right across his well toned stomach was a thin, almost silver scar like the trail of a shooting star from when Percy had battled the Minotaur after setting up a small lair in the Arden forest in France several centuries ago, and had failed to doge said monsters battle-axe. Running in three parallel lines down Percy's right Pectoral that dug painfully deeper as they dragged further down his chest until bone could be seen running clearly underneath the scar tissue, the bottom half of the injury obscured underneath the ghost white bandages he had been forced to use after breaking his ribs several days ago.

Also, running down the inside of his right arm was a long, thick and ugly scar that looked like a filled in trench more than anything from the way the skin hideously bulged out from the rest of his skin from when he had been forced to cut open his own arm in order to reset the broken bone underneath that had already torn the skin like a knife through hot butter. It still ached from time to time, a dull, but only slightly painful ache that served as another reminder to always be vigilant and always be ready. His back was also a mess of several arrow and sword puncture marks as well as many slashes and burns...

All of which lead to his major injury from his time as Saladin. The top of Percy's left shoulder was completely burnt beyond all definition of the word horrific. The skin still seemed to blister and bubble even almost one thousand years after that _bitch's_ legacyhad thrown him into that hell-hole. There were a few bits and pieces of ghost white skin streaking through the injury like small rivers through the mountains or stretches of lands in-between the dark, agitated red skin that was left after the burning piece of wood was finally removed from his shoulder.

Percy winced slightly at the memory...slowly loosing himself in a maelström of thoughts, self pity and loathing...and also hatred.

"But there is nothing I can do about it now." He snarled

After snapping himself out of his own mind, Percy clicked his fingers casually, causing all of the shadows in the room to bend towards their master, bending their very existence to his will. Slowly, the wrapped around him like a cloth of shadows, covering his pasty skin with a layer of shadow as black as a persons worst nightmare, creeping like a thief through the night until all but his head was covered.

Slowly, the shadows began to melt away, slowly forming various items of clothing. The first was a pair of dark blue denim jeans, a colour that Percy had only just managed to figure out how to create. Unlike many people, his jeans were neither to large or small, giving him both room for maneuverability whilst not making him look larger than he actually was. Next formed a pair of black socks and Converse all-stars (a brand Percy had come to love over the past few years), the logo and traditional white toe cap perfect to a T, making them look like something fresh out of a store and not the darkness surrounding him.

After that, Percy's regular upper body attire began to take shape. The first thing formed was a short sleeve, black shirt that clung to his frame nicely but was again neither too tight so that mobility and agility were impaired, and neither was it too large so it just looked ridiculous on him. Over the top of this slowly formed a black blazer that Percy could often be found wearing during his "down" time of late, giving him a somewhat refined and sophisticated look compared to most boys his own "age". Percy smiled slightly as he quickly gave himself a brush over to make sure that everything was both in its right place and also not overly scrunched up or creased.

Satisfied with the results, Percy jumped down from the second tier of his bedroom before proceeding into the hallways of his fathers palace.

**(15 minutes later)**

The gardens of Persephone were arguably the most beautiful location in the planet in Percy's opinion. They stretched for only a couple of hundred metres either way but no matter if you sat on the borders or in the very heart of the garden, the beauty of even the smallest of things was undeniable...and made even more beautiful by those with an appreciation of the natural world.

Unlike most places of similar beauty on the planet, the gardens of Percy's mother were mostly not organic, but instead made of countless jewels and metals, from celestial bronze to platinum, rubys to amethysts, the majority of the garden was made up of countless jems and metals that one could not even begin to calculate the worth of.

Bushes were comprised of celestial bronze leaves that glistened in the torchlight like they were forever coated in a morning dew whilst branches of silver thread through the leaves like a spider's thread but glow in the light like streaks of light. Blueberrys were replaced with tiny sapphires, each worth a fortune in its own right, each one a dark blue, a swirling maelström of colour like the oceans themselves. Cherries were replaced with countless rubys that were as crimson as the blood flowing through Percy's veins whilst other metals such as platinum and gold created trees of untold beauty as they glinted in the torchlight, providing them with an ethereal, almost god like aura that simply stunned anyone who had truly seen it into silence.

the ponds of jems and diamonds compared to the few organic plants Persephone had planted in her garden, several of which Percy had spotted as he walked through the area. One which was know as "Moonlace", Percy's favourite plant. A simple yet elegant plant with long, silver petals and a verdant green stalk that simply shimmered etherally under the light of the torches nearby. Originally from the garden island of Ogygia, moonlace typically did not glow unless underneath pure moonlight, but with the help of Percy, Persephone had managed to change the effects so it simply emitted its glow at all times...a soft, silver glow that simply radiated clam and encourage the collection of thoughts. That was why Percy loved it so much. It helped the young man clam himself and slowly collect his scattered thoughts whilst helping him push the torturous past into the darkest corners of his mind for a while. Unlike Percy the plant was simple, it's needs were simple and it did nothing foolish. It simply lived out it's life peacefully whilst spreading a little beauty into the world.

"My polar opposite. I'm complex and difficult, I'm never clear with my needs and I have had anything but a peaceful and light bringing life in my time..." Percy whispered sadly as he continued his trek across the Gardens until he finally reached the double doors of nightmare black Obsidian that lead to the grand hall.

The huge doors swung open silently, which to this day still surprised Percy given the lack of maintenance he swore the place received, and yet the doors managed to open silently and the great hall continued to look as awe-inspiring and fabulous as ever.

The hall itself was some seventy metres long. Huge arching walls of nightmare black obsidian sprung forth from the very bedrock foundation like trees as they slowly began to curve over like the arches of many great cities, giving the ceiling a somewhat circular look to it. Upon said ceiling were hundreds of scenes from human history displaying many great battles, a vast majority of which Percy had either fought in or commanded one of the armies, were emblazoned onto the ceiling in silver and gold which seemed to flicker and shimmer in the torchlight of the great hall, making the scenes almost appear alive if one stood and stared long enough at the images. A long, black mahogany table flowed to the opposite end of the room whilst red and black chairs numbering in their tens if not hundred down either side.

At the head of the table sat a man and Percy's mother, Persephone. Even though he was a great distance away Percy could tell that the man was smiling as he stood up whilst his queen took his arm.

"Percy!" He called in a cold sounding voice. Percy smiled as he got his first look of his farther in what had been a very long time. '

The lord of the underworld, Hades, stood a little shorter than his adopted son at about 6'0, wearing a nightmare black suit with a blood-red shirt underneath whilst forgetting any sort of tie so he could leave his top button undone. His skin was as white as fallen snow like Percy's a long time ago. His frame was exactly like his sons, somewhat thin but extremely powerful.

His chin and jaw seemed to be chiseled to perfection, looking more like something you would find on a statue as opposed to a living, breathing person. His cheeks were slightly gaunt and looked drawn and deflated somewhat, and despite looking slightly old it also suited the man incredibly well, almost as if it were an attempt to emphasise who he ruled over. His forehead was perfectly positioned and proportional to the rest of his body. His lips were thin and seemed slightly pursed, whilst also tapering into a somewhat evil smile, whilst his eyes...well his irresis technically may well have not existed as they were as terrifyingly black as even the darkest of shadows or the deepest, darkest depths of ones own mind... nothing else compared to the black hollow look one could see when they stared into those eyes.

And yet they somehow managed to almost brighten with joy as the man raced forwards and almost crushed Percy in a hug. "Welcome back my son." He whispered in his ear as he pulled him tighter into the huge bear hug.

Percy could only crack a smile before replying, "Good to see you to dad."

**(half an hour later)**

Percy sat with his mother and father at the far end of the table, letting out a small satisfied sigh at the fact he had finally eaten his first proper breakfast in a long time, something his grandmother would scold him about at some point Percy knew for certain.

His father sat there with a small smile on his face, enjoying the company of the son he constantly thrust into danger just to save the world and prepare him for his fate. Hades and his wife had sat through the past half an hour listening to their sons tails and trials as he told them all about what had transpired whilst he was "out and about." But even though both of his parents radiated happiness, Percy could tell that deep down something was worrying his mother whilst his father looked anxious to ask his son something.

After several seconds of an uncomfortable silence, Percy finally spoke up, "Father, if there is something you wish to ask, go ahead." He stated it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Hades's face changed to one of surprise whilst his mothers turned slightly angry. "My boy, I wish I could let you rest here for a couple of days but I must ask a small favour of you first." But before he could even state what it was he wished from his son, Persephone literally exploded with rage.

"No Hades. He has just gotten back from almost a CENTURY of cleaning up the God's mistakes and that of their idiotic children. He. . You can send the three Furies after them but not Percy, I will NOT allow you to put him at risk again after he has just come home!" Persephone screamed the last part, a few tears slowly streaking down her face like raindrops on a car-door window whilst her cheeks burned red in anger. Percy moved around the table and embraced his mother in a tight hug. "Mum, I will not go if it is something long and stupid, but if it is a short little trip I'll do it and be back before dinner. I promise." Percy whispered in his distraught mothers ear as she took several moments to calm herself before finally nodding her head in agreement.

Percy kissed his mother on the head and whispered a thank-you before turning back to his somewhat surprised father. "Farther, if what you ask is short and sweet then I will go. If not I would like to ask someone else to take the job for me. I have not seen you or mum in a long time and I feel like I have some catching up to do." Hades smiled and nodded before replying, "Do not worry my boy, all you need to do is go pick up your new little brother and sister."

At this news, Percy's face lit up as a massive smile that threatened to tear his lips from his face spread out across it. "Wait do you mean..." But before he could finish his question, Hades cut off the stuttering Percy with a wide smile and a small nod, "Yes Percy, Bianca and Nico are now out of the lotus hotel and I was hoping you would go pick them up..." The lord of the dead asked with a small grin creeping across his face. Percy took several seconds to clear his head before speaking, "Where and when am I going?"

"A military academy in Maine and you leave immediately. Alecto has all of the information you will need. But be warned. A "quest" from those infernal fools at that silly little camp are going to try to swipe them tonight..." Hades face warped into one of hate alongside his son at the mention of the silly little "camp" before continuing,"... so be prepared to fight, but avoid killing anyone please. I don't want to have to explain to anyone why their child will be going home to that stupid camp in pieces..."

Percy let an evil grin creep across his face before speaking in an ice-cold voice to his father,

"I'll go get my stuff then...but be warned...", Percy snarled, " I make no promises, if those fools get in my way or threaten my sister and brother's lives..."

**_"I will kill them."_**

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_Hey guys, _

_ Well seeing as this is pretty much an "intermission" chapter, I decided to get it out-of-the-way today so that I could get to work on some more "interesting" chapters, such as the one I will hopefully post tomorrow providing that I have enough time to write. _

_Also, I would like to quickly point out that I am rather well versed in Greek mythology and that I am aware that Persephone's Garden was originally not as large as I have stated nor were the plants so weird and made of metals and precious gems and what not, but seeing as the option provided a nice chance for some description, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Also, with Hades being the God of wealth, it is not unreal to imagine the garden as such... and don't worry, it will hold relevance later on in the story. _

_But for those of you who have not guessed yet, we are starting Percy's life in the modern world at the start of "The Titan's curse" mostly because it is important to the story and secondly because the Sea Of Monsters is, in my opinion, simply a "filler" story that is actually rather boring...but each to their own I suppose. But any w__ays next chapter should see us get our first little glimpse of our hero in combat, putting just a fraction of his skills and tricks to use...so get ready, because things are going to get a lot more exciting from here on out ! _

_Oh, and I'd like to thank you guys again for your support! Honestly, 52 favourites, 46 favourites and twenty-seven reviews? Guys, that is the definition of fricking awesome! Keep it up! Review and tell me what you think, good and bad, fave and follow if you haven't already and spread the word among your friends. I love to entertain and I would love for this audience to grow, but if not, it matters little for you guys are so cool! _

_Any ways, all I have left to write is, _

_Read,Review,Fave and Follow, and, _

_Of course, _

_Keep it real like a Ninja, _

_CBF _

**N/B:_ I have set up a poll for you guys to vote at so you can decide who Percy ends up getting hitched with. I would appreciate it if all of you could take twenty seconds just to go and vote in the poll so I have a good idea of who you want to see Percy with at the end of the story. But appreciate that I have an idea as to who I'd like it to be but I will also listen greatly to what you guys want as well. Also, I have an idea of what sort of trials and tribulations I will force them through. After all, the life of the Hero is never an easy one!_**


	4. Chapter 4: Westover Academy

Percy sat in the back of a long, sheik and expensive Lexus. The interior was basic combination of a dark chocolate like brown and a nightmare black. Extra features were fairly limited save for an in-car phone and a built-in sat-nav as the car itself rarely saw any usage because most of Percy's family used shadow travel or other such means of getting around. But according to the Fury Alecto, "Your father has ordered us to go by car to mask your power otherwise those fools from camp half-blood may try to take you back with them or even capture you" She had informed him as they set out in her typically raspy sounding voice.

Percy sighed heavily as he began to flick through the last few details of the school he was going to go and "break out" his little brother and sister from.

Bianca and Nico D'Angelo were Percy's only two living siblings, even if they should've now been in old age given the fact that they were born in the earlier part of the 1900's. Percy had made the extra time to ensure that he could come back to the States to help move them into the Lotus Hotel and casino with the help of his father and Alecto.

Several years ago whilst Percy was back out on the open road, his father had moved the two of them to several boarding schools over the years before finally sending them to their current school, Westover military academy.

Since the information his father had passed him was brief, Percy had looked up the school on the internet using his phone on the journey there. Founded at the end of the nineteenth century, the Academy was designed to create the next generation of military officers for the American armed forces. But now in keeping with the modern principles of a "military academy", the school was now more focused on "rehabilitating" more troublesome members of todays youth.

The plan that Percy had come up with was so simple it was almost insulting.

The academy was holding its anual end of semester party in the main school gym. That meant there would be a lot of mortals in the room so Percy had plenty of cover to operate under or places to lose those foolish demigods that would dare try to take his little brother and sister from him. Also, he would be able to use simple mist modification to fool the mortals into thinking they knew him so that he could blend in with them even more. So all he would have to do is find his little brother and sister then carefully pick his way out through the crowds and get into the waiting car, which for all intents and purposes was a simple plan.

Percy let out a small sigh as he placed the black folder onto the seat next to him before staring out of the slightly frosted window, the ice clouding some of the outside scenery, but serving to only add to its mystery and beauty.

Like most of northern America during the winter, Maine suffered from heavy snow fall that would blanket the world in an endless white shroud, the snow sometimes so white and perfect that it was almost as white and smooth as the "skin" of a ghost, whilst gently reflecting the sun, causing the small ice crystals to glisten and glint like strobe lighting in the setting sun. Trees looked as if all of the life had been sucked from their very cores as they frosted over and offered no resistance, the ice simply creeping up the trunk as if the tree had lost the very will to live, soon turning them into gigantic frozen popsicles that littered the frozen wastes or creating dead and frozen forests that were once places alive with the sounds of gentle bird songs and the rustle of foxes through fallen leaves. Now they were nothing more than frozen husks...adding an eerie beauty to the frozen landscape of Maine.

Percy smiled lightly to himself. It was the first time in many, many years that he had actually been happy to see the snow. For many years Percy had feared the arrival of winter in all it's beauty and cruelty as it disrupted operation after operation after operation, sometimes almost costing him an entire decades worth of work in meer hours or days. It was the one thing that he had learnt to fear over the years. Winter could either help you turn the tide of an entire campaign or long, drawn out battle...

Or cause you to crash to defeat.

Percy continued to brood as he ran possible scenarios through his mind as to how things may go down at the academy. All of a sudden, after what seemed like an age, the in-car phone began ringing, an old-school ring that you'd expect to find on a 50's phone. Percy sighed as he went to answer the phone, but he was cut off by Alecto who snatched the small, black receiver out of its cradel before placing the device firmly between her shoulder-blade and left ear. The fury spent less than a minute on the phone talking to whoever it was on the other end in hushed tones and whispers than even Percy could not pick up.

Eventually, Alecto put the phone down and sighed. "Whatever she's just been talking about is really bad news...after all she is NOT one for subtilty." Percy continued to race through possible scenarios until the fury spoke up. "Percy, that was your father on the phone." Immediately Percy tensed. His father NEVER had any real direct hand in any of Percy's missions, even just passing him information was left to the Furies or other various ghosts and human like monsters from the underworld. So whatever the news was, it had to be bad.

After several awkwardly silent seconds, Percy finally spoke up, "What's happened? Are Bianca and Nico okay?" his voice was becoming more and more filled with worry with each and every passing syllable. Alecto shook her head before speaking, "No your brother and sister are absolutely fine...it's just things may have just gotten a whole lot more complicated." Percy relaxed slightly knowing that his brother and sister were safe, but he knew that something major was still wrong. After a deep breath, Percy finally spoke up again.

"So what's happened Alecto? Has Zeus sent extra fools to help the camp weaklings that he has sent against my father's children?" Percy growled out the second part. Again the Fury shook her head, a small grimace creeping across her face before she found the courage to speak.

"He's sent the hunters."

(One hour later, Westover military Academy, North Wing Corridor, Main Staircase.)

"Of fucking course, something ALWAYS has to go wrong when I go on missions." Percy snarled as he bounded up the wooden old stair cases of the Academy's north wing. Percy continued cussing constantly under his breath, using a mixture of greek and english as his footsteps echoed loudly as he continued sprinting up the stairs as he replayed the whole scenario through his mind over and over.

Things had been going perfectly well to begin with. Two of the Academy's teachers, some french woman and one Doctor Thorn had questioned him as to who he was and what he was doing in the school. Percy had used a quick bit of mist manipulation to simply pass by their little interrogation as he jogged to the main sports hall.

The hall itself was some hundred metres long and about as wide, if not slightly more. Scattered around the room were young boys wearing their Academy dress uniforms, a black pair of trousers and shoes with a black jacket emblazoned on the shoulders with the slightly puffed up white shoulder pads. The buttons down the front of the jacket were an ivory like white that looked incredibly smart but not overly flashy whilst the Academy's coat of arms was stitched onto the jackets breast pocket. Where as the girls were wearing an assortment of luxurious gowns and dresses that varied in colours, turning the hall into a plethora of colours that swayed and moved like an ocean of mixed paints and colours. It was rather impressive.

Percy immediately set about the task of locating the three demigods that Zeus had ordered to "save" from the possibility of a monster attack. "The only monster they would have to worry about is you Zeus..." Percy had snarled as he continued to move amongst the dancers and socialites of the party, blending in to the crowds effortlessly after using the mist to alter his appearance, turning his skin to a light tan colour without the scars to all but the most perceptive of people.

The three "heroes" were easily identifiable from everyone else. After all, they stood out like a sore thumb compared to everyone else...well to a trained individual like Perseus at least.

The first one he spotted was a girl who he easily identified as a daughter of Athena. She had blond, curly hair that flowed effortlessly down to her shoulders and stormy grey eyes that seemed to analyse everything in seconds. Her skin was tanned perfectly, instantly painting her as a Californian girl, and given that Percy's fathers realm's entrance was in LA, he could spot a Californian girl a mile away.

The next one was an arrogant looking boy of around the same age as Percy (physically at least.) He was tall-ish at around 5'11 but he was rather thin and weak looking. He tried to compensate for this by trying to look "cool" with overly gelled up hair and a cocky smirk that Percy would've loved to just wipe from his face...but he was under orders not to hurt the fools so he left him alone... until he noticed the colour of his eyes...

Sea-green.

"A son of Poseidon..." Percy hissed to himself in the back of his mind, it had been a long time since he had seen another child of his birth father...and as always, this one proved to be a pathetic imitation of his greater sons such as Percy himself or Theseus. Shaking his head he quickly assed that the boy was clearly physically weak and pathetically weak in terms of demigod power. At least he would be no trouble.

The last girl, however, caught Percy's eye.

She was clearly either leading the quest or the most experienced, judging by the way that she actually had some success blending in. She would use crowds as cover and mist manipulation to try to appear like she was part of a larger group, but her power only stretched so far so it was only believable at first glance. However her simple party trick was hardly going to affect Percy. Her hair was cut short and set into an array of spikes that almost made her look like she had a hedgehog on her head. Her frame was slight and she was fairly short at about 5'8, but there was no denying that she had a powerful aura that indicated one of two possibilities to Percy...but his theory was confirmed when he saw her eyes...

Electrical blue.

"A daughter of Zeus as well? I guess Hestia was right when she said that most male gods can't keep it in their trousers..." Percy snickered to himself briefly before seizing up the girl. It was true that she did seem very powerful, but the fact that she was still young meant her power was simply not even on the same planet as Percy...so at least he wouldn't really have to hurt them if he needed to fight them over his siblings.

But the moment he stop his observations was the moment things started to go horribly wrong.

Percy had been searching fruitlessly for several minutes when his attention was procured by the weak legacy of Poseidon who informed his partners in crime that "The weird Doc guy is making off with Hades spawn!". At just those words Percy almost lost control as he resisted the urge to walk up to the weakling and simply smash his face into several pieces of furniture for daring to insult his siblings...

But the news that they had been taken overrode that insult as Percy quickly crashed out of the main hall and into the cold stone hallways of the Academy's north wing in an effort to cut the bastards off. But unfortunately for Percy it appeared the Gods had decided to shit in his luck bucket again as he only just caught sight of the three measly demigods bounding around a corner, hot in pursuit of the bastard who had his brother and sister.

Percy set of at a decent paced run, hoping to keep an eye on the group but also to help maintain enough distance so that he could keep to the shadows and remain hidden.

He followed the fools like this for several minutes until they finally crashed out of a door, weapons in hand. "Those idiots! If they DARE attack that beast whilst my sister and brother are at risk they had better hope their mummy's and daddy's are close by or I'll rip them to pieces." Percy growled as he bolted towards the little door that the group had crashed out of. Instinctively he raised his shoulder as he collided with the door. But what he had not expected to occur was for the wooden door to be torn from its hinges in an explosion of wooden shrapnel and screeching metal the moment he collided with it until he was outside.

He had crashed out into a small field blanketed in a thick layer of snow. About one hundred metres to his left lay a dead looking forest, the trees like popsicles and their branches like icicles. In the middle of said field resided the three fools from the "quest", each with their respective weaponry drawn. The daughter of Athena a small yet efficient looking combat dagger, the child of Poseidon wielding a sword and the daughter of Zeus wielding a nasty looking spear that crackled with lightning as it danced and jumped up and down the shaft whilst a copy of Athena's shield, Aegis, sat comfortable in her left hand.

Percy smirked, sure they looked like they at least knew how to use their weapons but so did the group of fifteen or twenty monsters surrounding them.

Percy actually laughed a little as he slowly began to summon the shadows to his side, quickly peeling them from wherever they were hiding until they formed their customary blanket around his form until they settled and slowly began to form Percy's personal combat armour. Slowly, the lower portion of the armour began to take shape.

First came the boots. In keeping with his Saladin armour, the boots were made of light-weight, nightmare black Stygian iron alloy. The leg guards that followed suit were adorned with images of pain and battle that would sicken even the stoutest of warriors if they paid heed to them for too long, each one emblazoned in silver and flowed the chest piece. Like the rest of the armour, the chest piece was emblazoned with hellish images of battle in silver and gold, making them more than pronounced enough for all to see, the armour taking on a more greek feel as the piece clung to Percy's figure well, making him look larger than he already was as well as a hell of a lot more intimidating.

Then came the helm.

Unlike many people in Percy's position, he refused to use a standard Greek helmet, claiming that, like their Roman counterparts , they were not intimidating enough... and that was the main function of Percy's helmet. To intimidate the poor fools who thought themselves capable of standing up to the crown prince of the underworld. Shaped like a screaming skull, Percy's helm held nothing but hatred and fury in its look, instilling fear into his enemy's hearts, and like the rest of the armour it was a pitch black Stygian Iron alloy that Percy had spent months planning and trying to perfect... but the effect was more than impressive.

The first monster to notice him, an Emposeua almost frightened Percy at the terrified scream it let out when it saw his armour. The quest members looked around in shock like the rest of the monsters at the creature before almost jumping out of their skin at the sight of Percy in his armour.

Percy let out a small laugh as the figure holding his two siblings tried to order the lesser monsters to attack. "You cannot stop me, Dr. Thorne. I will be leaving here with the boy and girl and there is nothing you can do to stop me!" He shouted over to the cowering monster in Ancient greek as he slowly headed towards the monsters. Finally one of the three giants there developed enough courage to let out a week war cry as it raced forwards to try to attack Percy, who summoned his first weapon to his side.

Their was a slight shaking like the beginning of an earthquake until a gap opened up in the very earth itself. The monster froze and watched on in horror as a ghostly hand thrust a nightmare black spear up into Percy's waiting hand, the shadows that danced around the blade echoing the screams of agony of those Percy had slew with the weapon.

Without waiting for the Giant to resume his charge, Percy simply hurled the weapon at the dumbstruck giant, sending the tip of the spear straight through the creatures chest cavity.

It didn't even get to cry out in agony before disintegrating into a golden, snow like dust that tainted the perfectly white landscape. But the weapon then continued its path as if it hadn't even struck a thing as it slammed into the second and third giants, repeating the same effect until it finally came to a rest, some forty metres from where Percy had just thrown it. Everyone and everything looked at the beast before them. The majority of the Emposuea surrounding the three demigods suddenly broke formation and headed straight for Percy, desperate to try and bring him down before he could do any more damage.

Percy smiled as he held out his hand again until a Greek style, Stygian iron and steel blade shot out from the ground, the steel snaking through the sea of black in an intricate pattern that lended the added benefits of having mortal steel in the blade.

When the first Emposuea tried to strike Percy by simply thrusting its blade forwards, Percy ducked under the blade at the last second with a unbelievible amount of speed and grace. As he came up inside the creatures guard, Percy delivered a vicious uppercut that cracked the foul animals jaw like a twig over a knee. He then capitalised on the beasts agony by wrapping its neck into the crook of his left arm as he quickly danced the blade to his right hand.

Another Emposuea behind the first tried to race forwards to help its sister, but was instead met with death as Percy pirouetted on his left leg, bringing his blade down in a vicious arc with impossible speed an accuracy as he sliced the monsters head open, simply disintegrating it into dust whilst viciously jerking his left arm, causing a sickening crack to emanate from the first Emposuea as it's neck snapped like a stick in Percy's vice-like grip.

A third and fourth enemy raced towards Percy, who ducked under their swiping strikes, only to deliver one of his own with surgical precision, cutting the two creatures in half as they quickly turned into two piles of sickly golden dust.

Percy's fifth enemy paled greatly when Percy looked at it, almost to the point Percy felt he could probably just say "boo!" and it would faint. But in keeping with his speed and grace, Percy grabbed the monsters sword arm wrist before crushing it in a vice like grip. The monster howled in agony before Percy twisted it's sword on itself and drove it home to ruthless effect.

As Percy looked to his last few opponents, he caught a small glimpse out of the corner of his left eye of a small streak of silver. Percy bit back a curse, instead saving it for his mind. "Fucking hell! Why now? I better get over there and deal with this Doc guy, I'm sure the hunters can take care of the rest" Percy smiled slightly as his entire body melted away into shadows as back as night before quickly manifesting behind a terrified Doctor Thorne...

"Wazz' up Doc?"

(Zoe Nightshade's P.O.V)

As much as Zoe hated to admit it, the male who had just appeared to help the group from that silly little camp was incredibly skillful and seemingly rather damned powerful.

Zoe and her sisters had looked on in utter awe at the speed and grace of the man. One second he was darting underneath the wild slash of a single Emposuea, the next second he was slicing two in half after already splitting one's skull open and snapping another's neck. It was, for all intents and purposes both terrifying and amazing at the same time. '

Terrifying because Zoe knew deep down that this individual could tear the vast majority of her sisters to shreds without even breaking a sweat. After all he was practically bored out of his own mind in-between his kills. He was simply playing around with the poor monsters and they knew it. Zoe knew it too... and she absolutely dreaded to think how skilled and merciless he truly was when he took a fight seriously.

But Zoe was also amazing based around how effortless and graceful the male made each and every one of his moves look. His speed was on par and surpassed many hunters whilst his agility was easily greater than the most elegant of dancers or the most brilliant gymnasts. His strength was like that of ten men, hurling a spear through several giants with ease and crushing an Emposuea's bones like they were meer twigs.

"Not bad for a male, huh?" Zoe heard her oldest friend, Phoebe smirk as she looked out over the mysterious warriors warpath with a mix of appreciation and surprise. The lieutenant of the hunt could not help herself as she let a small chuckle escape before replying to her oldest friend, "I think thee are lovestruck by the boy." Phoebe looked at Zoe with a murderous glare to which Zoe could only laugh at even more as her friend slowly pulled her bow from her back...

"He may be good but we should really show him how it's done." Phoebe said with an evil grin slowly playing across her face.

Zoe smirked slightly as she drew her own bow from her back...

"I could not agree with thee more Phoebe."

(Percy's P.O.V)

Several terrified yells were all that signalled the end of the Emposuea Percy had left for the hunt as he summond his spear back to his side.

Dr Thorn growled as his body slowly began to change into its monster form. Slowly, a furry main appeared around the man's neck as his arms slowly began to bend more at the elbows. His legs also bent like dogs as fur began to cover his entire body whilst a slimy, scorpion tail slowly weasled its way out of his rear. After several more seconds the transformation was complete. Thorn no longer existed...but instead, one of Percy's first quests stood before him.

"Ahhhh Manticore, how long has it been? You look good. Less... dead." Percy taunted to the monster whose eyes caught ablaze as he finally realised who his assailant was. "Impossible! Mortals lives are short and pathetic! You cannot possibly be alive...unless..." But Percy cut him off with a curt wave of his hand before speaking again. "Listen Manticore. You'd better let my siblings go or I swear I will shove your tail down your throat and make you eat poison spikes for an eternity." Percy growled as he shifted his grip on his spear, ready to react to any situation.

The monster let out a deep growl from its throat before simply dropping a terrified Bianca and a petrified Nico and dropping its head before charging at Percy. The old warrior smiled as he simply let his body melt into shadows, reappearing right behind the foul monster, driving his spear into the Manticores leg, causing it to howl out in utter agony as the spears time smashed straight through bone and cut through flesh like a knife through hot butter before slamming into the ground, holding the creature in place. "I'm glad to see all of this time hasn't changed your style one little bit my friend." Percy snarled as his sword reappeared in his grasp.

Just as Percy readied himself to drive the blade downwards, the monster shot several poisonous spikes from its tail, forcing Percy to dive to the right and out of the projectiles path. "Oh you are so going to pay for that, little lion man!" Percy snarled as he picked himself up and made his way over to the creature.

But just as he was about to, a rather short girl at around 5'6 raced over to Thorn's head, her upper body clad in a silver Parker whilst her face remained hidden under a hood. Her bow was raised and a gleaming silver arrow notched, ready to fire.

"Permission to kill mi..." But the poor girl was cut off as Thorn let out a blood curdlling roar, swipping the slightly framed girl in one of his massive hands before sprinting towards the cliff edge before simply tumbling off.

Before he even knew what his body was doing, Percy was racing towards the cliff edge, his mind racing as he drew to within only several metres of the drop, "Let's just hope I'm not too late and that her ladyship doesn't kill me for doing this." He whispered in the back of his mind as he reached the edge of the cliff...

And threw himself off.

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_Hey guys, _

_ So here is chapter four! I know we didn't get to see a whole load of action this chapter but I hope it has somewhat sated you in terms of heroic fights and what not. But seriously, next chapter out little Hero is going to have to deal with the fall-out of getting caught by the biggest man-hater on the planet and the several demigods from Camp Half-blood. _

_Hmmmmm, I wonder how that will all go?_

_Tell me what you think in the reviews if you decide to take the time to write one. What went well, what went not so well, what was good and what was bad. (Especially concerning the fight scene. I feel that they are possibly my weakest area of writing at times so tell me what you thought of this one!) _

_So all I have left to say is keep on being awesome guys! You are the sole reason that I am writing this story so keep up your amazing levels of support, I mean 38 reviews, 67 follows and 54 favourites! That is unreal! That also combined with 2,637 views as of typing this and I've been going for only a few days...well let's just say I would love to see more of the same from all of you guys! You have been immensely supportive and kind, so I hope I can prove myself worthy of such loyalty and support. _

_So remember to Read,Review,Fave and Follow, and, _

_Of course, _

_Keep it real like a Ninja, _

_CBF_

**N/B: _Please note that I will get an upload schedule on my Profile page within a few hours of getting this chapter posted so keep an eye on that so you know when to expect the next update. _**

**_Also I would like to remind you that the poll for who Percy shall get hitched with is going to stay open for a while, how long I do not know... but I shall say long enough and leave it at that. So go to my Profile page and vote,vote, vote damn it! I want your opinions so do take the time to cast a vote! _**


	5. Chapter 5: 'Cuz I'm free fallin'

Percy had done plenty of stupid things in his life for certain... but jumping off of a cliff to save a girl he barely knew who also happened to be part of a man-hating troupe led by a man hating goddess...

Well that was stupid.

Even by his standards.

In all honesty he wasn't even sure himself as to why the hell he was diving off of a cliff to save her. It had all happened so fast that Percy barely figured out what the hell he was doing the moment he launched himself over the cliff to save the girl.

At first he kept his body spread out wide slightly as he attempted to give himself some clearance from the rocky face of the cliff that was as white as fallen snow and about as even as an unattended to country lane. The air felt drier the farther from the cliff he travelled, almost as if the damned salt from the sea was drying every last drop of moisture from the air and sucking it back into the oceans themselves.

After several seconds, Percy quickly angled his body forwards like a bird of prey setting out after it's target, straightening out his back like a wooden board whilst holding out his hands in front of himself like some sort of break so he could slide through the cold, dry air even faster than any normal human thought possible.

For a few moments, it felt like Percy was simply going to hang in the air like some sort of ghost, his body neither going up or down, affected by neither gravity or mystical forces attempting to pull him back to the safety of land. He simply floated there for several seconds, peering down after his prey like a vulture... before gravity took its hold and he plunged after the girl.

Wind whip around his armor like a hurricane as he rapidly picked up speed and accelerated after the Manticore and the girl. At first it was like a low whistle from a million miles away, more an annoyance than a hindrance. But after only a few moments it was like being in the eye of a massive hurricane, with the winds whipping around him like he was a plane and the horrific howl of the wind louder than the most fearsome pack of wolves.

It took him only a few seconds to catch back up to the huntress and the Manticore who were tumbling completely out of control like they were fighting over control of a parachute. Percy smirked slightly as he quickly reached the pair, the Manticore's mane whipping in the wind like hair in a blow-dryer whilst the huntresses silver uniform somehow managed to keep its shape like it was made of steel opposed to gods knew what animals and synthetic materials.

Upon reaching the Manticore, Percy immediately reached into his pocket and found what he was looking for...his Patron's gift to him from so long ago.

Riptide.

Pulling out the small fountain looking pen, Percy immediately pulled off the small cap to the pen, which unleashed the magically enchanted blade to Percy's service, a long, leaf looking, celestial bronze blade that hummed with a faint bronze glow that simply added to the weapons enchanting and terrifying look.

With a new weapon firmly in his grasps, Percy drove the celestial bronze blade not just through the Manitcore's tail, but he drove the blade so far through the monster that he not only severed it's tail, but he also managed to cut through one of its flailing legs like it was nothing more than thin air, the graceful blade making short work of the animals pathetic body in milliseconds.

Thorn howled in pain as his body slowly began to crumble to dust, each molecule leaking as it reverted back into his sickly gray monster essence as his being began it's journey back to the damned hell hole of Tartarus. Percy let himself taunt his foe a little more as he finished him for the second time in a row in Greek. "Nice try little lion man but I thought you would've learnt that I always win!" Percy growled as he shifted through the remains of his foe like it was a gray winters night snowfall towards his target in the still falling and screaming huntress.

Percy smiled as he pulled up alongside the huntress as he managed to grab her bridal style before pulling the shadows of the very mighty cliff face he had jumped off of to the pair as they tumbled to within metres of the violent, cold, dark and unforgiving sea.

(Artemis's P.O.V)

If there was any time that Artemis had been more dumbstruck concerning the stupidity of a male, then it must have been something bordering on insane because the male who had just jumped off of a cliff was currently sat at the top.

The moment Zoe was dragged over the edge by that damned monster, she almost felt her heart-break at the prospect of Zoe dying. She had been with Artemis since almost the very beginning of the hunters of Artemis and had served as he Lieutenant for countless years. She was like a sister to Artemis... and her best friend. Someone who had stood by her through thick and thin, seen hundreds of girls come and go ,fight and die. And for it to end like this was too much for Artemis. Out of everyone she had ever served with, Zoe deserved a place in the stars more than any hero to have ever existed.

So Artemis almost suffered a heart attack when what happened next occurred.

At first it seemed like the shadows themselves were bending towards a spot only fifteen or twenty metres from Lady Artemis and her hunters, shifting and twisting like they were alive as the air in the small clearing grew colder and colder with every passing second, sending it well past sub-zero. Artemis's very bones and blood grew cold at whatever was happening in front of her. It was terrifying for her girls as each one backed away in shock and horror, raising their bows, aiming at the shadows as they began to take the shape of not one person...but two.

"Lower your weapons and move up on this thing... we shall see what it wants and if it try's to attack. Put it down." Artemis hissed in a voice as cold as death itself as she and the rest of her hunters moved up until they were only several metres away from the anomaly as it finally settled into a physical shape with one figure carrying the other.

After several tense seconds, the shadows began to dissipate, and the last two people Artemis expected to see appeared in their wake.

Zoe and the crazy male.

Almost immediately, the boy set down Zoe on her feet with a certain air of respect and kindness and turned to Artemis before bowing to a perfect forty-five degree angle to the goddess even though she was in her thirteen year old form.

"Lady Artemis, it's an absolute honour to meet you." The boy spoke in flawless ancient Greek and spoke in a voice that seemed almost robotic it was so cold and lifeless. It seemed as if it's owner had stopped being human a long time ago... and that made it all the more terrifying. It also spoke of great pain and weight of responsibility.

He also appeared to be very well-informed of her hunters ways and traditions, touching a hunter for no longer than was absolutely necessary and bowing to the goddess that barely anybody recognised outside of the hunt. "My, my, my... something tells me this is no ordinary male." When she finally got hit by the first wave of his power, Artemis nearly collapsed from its intensity. "What the Hades... this power is beyond most minor gods and some major gods...whoever the hell this is, if it turns violent, it could be one tough fight."

Shaking off her surprise from the initial comment and aspects of the boy, Artemis assumed her typical cold demeanour before finally replying to the male. " Who may you be, boy?" Artemis sneered as several of her Hunters raised their bows as Zoe retreated to Artemis's side. " I am nobody of great importance, my lady." He replied again in ancient Greek. Artemis tensed up slightly. She was used to people providing her with straight up answers and not being given cryptic and confusing answers from a boy no less.

"Why are you here?" She replied calmly, hoping that the boy would open up a little bit and provide her with a little more information. But he was as minimalistic as before. "I am under orders to take my little brother and sister back to my father's realm..." He paused as he looked over Artemis's shoulder before continuing, "...which seems to have occurred rather painlessly. " He replied in his ice-cold voice as Artemis turned around to just catch sight of the two children of Hades, Bianca and Nico, being swiftly dragged into a shadow by Alecto, the leader of the three furies.

Artemis turned around with fury building up in her silver eyes as she turned back to face the mysterious male, bow raised and arrow knocked. "Who are you?" She hissed as she took another step forwards. "I am simply an errand boy I suppose, and I would appreciate it if you will let me take my leave." He replied coldly.

Artemis felt her eyes glow slightly as her power built up. " A mere boy is ordering ME to let him go peacefully, I should turn the fool into a jackalope but in all honesty If I bring him to my father like that he may not be all that happy...". Artemis bit her lower lip before speaking again, "You are a fool. You will come with me to my father and the council, and they will decide your fate." Artemis replied venomously, hoping that the arrogant boy would make a stupid move and simply give her and her hunters enough reason to put him down.

So to say she was shocked when he simply nodded his head and replied, "I understand completely lady Artemis and..." But he was cut off as the foolish son of Poseidon raced forwards with his blade drawn.

(Zoe's P.O.V)

Zoe was only just coming out of shock when that arrogant, foolish boy from that silly little camp raced forwards towards the mysterious "errand boy" of Hades.

The boy's face was blood-red where he was so furious as he drew his sword from his side and went to place the tip up against the throat of the newcomer as he tried to come across as a superior being, "How dare you interfere with a quest from Olympus! Who the hell..." But he never got to finish his sentence.

With what seemed a sigh of boredom, Zoe's saviour stepped to the side with a slight huff before he shot his left arm forwards at impossible speeds, knocking the blade away from his throat before twisting his upper body so that his right arm was now in perfect alignment with the fools elbow, before striking forwards with his right fist with the speed and accuracy of a viper striking its prey. When the boys fist connected with the other's elbow, there was a sickening crunch that sounded like a twig breaking underfoot or a branch being torn from a tree.

There was a howl of utter agony as the boy desperately tried to grip to his now mangled elbow. The joint itself was popped completely out of position whilst the bone on either side was broken so badly that the jagged edges were clearly visible through the skin.

"Foolish boy, you would do well to learn your place. Just because you can swing a sword and kill a monster doesn't make you a great fighter or hero." The armoured warrior spat in ancient Greek as he looked at the whimpering son of Poseidon with what Zoe could only assume was a look of pure hatred.

What was amazing was the boy's speed. It rivaled any hunter and made the other one look beyond slow. "A snail is probably faster than that boy." Zoe sneered in her mind as Artemis looked at the armoured figure with a look of both amazement and, if Zoe was not mistaken, her ladyship also looked slightly impressed.

Finally, Artemis spoke again, "You say you will come with me?" She asked casually as if the "interruption" had not occurred. Zoe smiled, her mistress was always one to turn a blind eye to violence if it helped put people in their place. The warrior nodded his head and walked forwards towards Artemis. "Know that I will not fight back

physically, nor will I try to escape, I swear on the Styx. Know, however, that I will defend myself once the meeting is underway. As much as I love my undead friends, I have no real wish to join them." He stated solemnly before stopping about a metre away from Artemis whilst a deep, drum like thunder roared overhead, sealing his oath.

For a few seconds, Artemis seemed rather worried about the implications of taking this man to Olympus.

Eventually, she spoke.

"I will take you to the council and they can decide what to do with you,..." Artemis paused until she met Zoe's deep brown eyes with her own silver ones before continuing, "...Zoe, set up camp here whilst I help deal with this issue, and tend to the son of Poseidon, for as much as I dislike him, I doubt that his father will take his sons arm being left unattended to very well..." Artemis finished as she closed the gap between herself and the warrior.

"But my lady!" Was all Zoe could get out before her Lady and her mysterious saviour disappeared into a flash of blinding silver light.

(Percy's P.O.V)

Percy felt his entire stomach lurch when Artemis used her teleportation ability to drag him to Olympus.

When the intense light finally faded. Percy was met with a sight he did not want to see at all.

The throne rooms doors of Olympus.

Designed to be intimidating to all those bought to Olympus for crimes against the Gods or their fellow demigods or to express the ultimate authority of the Gods to all those who sought an audience with the Gods or those who live in the shadow of the main throne room. Standing at over twenty-five feet tall and made of solid gold, the doors were a sight to behold. Made in Hephesteau's main forge, the doors were adorned with scenes of great heroism from the Gods victory in the Giant and first titan wars, the battle of Troy to the original Perseus's exploits to kill Medusa. It was truly an awe-inspiring sight.

"I never thought that I would see these halls in all my years alive." Percy mused quietly to himself whilst a light snickering broke out behind him. "Why? Because you never thought you would get caught or because you never thought you'd be worthy enough to venture into these halls?" A feminine voice from behind retorted.

Percy spun around to be greeted by Artemis...but a lot different to how she normally appeared.

Now looking more like an eighteen year old girl, Artemis's long auburn coloured hair draped casually down her shoulders, flowing with the grace and beauty of the most undisturbed of rivers. Her figure was slender yet very appealing (a slight shock given the fact she was a maiden goddess.) whilst her skin was somewhere in between tanned and white, a perfect combination that gave her an air of natural beauty that Percy felt no-one could beat.

Her cheekbones were positioned high up her face, stretching her perfect skin to the point her cheeks still appeared full yet not fat. Her cheeks seemed to be naturally rouged whilst her lips were a luscious red that no amount of lipstick or other such things could ever hope to match, whilst her silver eyes radiated power and influence whilst remaining incredibly attractive to anyone who knew how to appreciate beauty.

Percy shook his head before speaking, " I just simply didn't think I would get enough free time to do the former and that I wouldn't be in enough spotlight to afford the latter, Lady Artemis." Percy replied in his typically cold voice.

Artemis shook her head before waving her hands, commanding the great golden doors to slowly creep open. Once they were open enough, the duo stepped inside to be greeted by the council.

The hall itself was some thirty to forty metres tall and covered in countless paintings and etchings and decorations that it looked more like a Greek art gallery opposed to a throne room. Some hundreds of Pillars shot forth to the sky like trees looking for the sun, providing a somewhat Pantheon like feeling to the whole room. It looked beyond beautiful and amazing. But it was the thrones that truly captivated any and all who had been in the room.

Eleven thrones sat in a horse shoe shape that made the whole room insignificant. Each one was a Testament to each and every one of the Gods power and authority. Ten of said chairs sat occupied and filled with very grumpy and angry-looking Gods. Percy swallowed but strolled into the room with a calm confidence and serenity that caused several of the Gods to give him curious stares.

Artemis flashed to her seat before Percy could look around again, leaving him in the centre of a room filled with lots of angry Gods.

"Is this the boy you spoke to me about?" Bellowed a voice that sounded louder than the eye of even the greatest storm. Percy looked to the middle-aged man sat at the head throne. His hair was black with several gray spots in it whilst his face was handsome and his eyes and electrical blue.

Artemis nodded.

Percy bowed, "Lord Zeus, I am Perseus." He uttered in his ice-cold voice, his dead gaze meeting that of the king of the Gods... and winning their "death glare" contest.

"Who is your father or mother, boy?" He asked as calmly as he possibly could after staring into Percy's cold and dead gaze. Percy smiled slightly underneath his helmet before addressing Zeus again. "My father is Lord Hades and my Mother is his Queen Persephone." At these words the entire Olympian counsel fell silent, hoping to any deity greater than themselves he was not a new God, until finally one of them spoke up.

"Well, well, well Percy, hasn't it been a long time?" A luscious female voice asked as one of the Gods glowed a verdant green before walking towards Percy, who couldn't help but smile.

"Too long indeed, Lady Demeter." Percy replied calmly as he walked towards the goddess of summertime. In her normally "elder" woman look, Her hair was slightly gray and her skin perfectly tanned. Her figure was just as elegant as any other goddess and her eyes a gorgeous green like Percy's.

Demeter smiled warmly at Percy before pulling him into a tight hug. "I think we've got a lot of catching up to do." She said calmly as she pulled out of the hug. Percy could not help but let a small, somewhat restrained laugh escape his lips before nodding as his adoptive grandmother returned to her fifteen foot godly height on her throne.

"YOU KNOW THIS CHILD? WHAT IS HE? A GOD?" Zeus bellowed, his master bolt appearing in his hands, a two foot long celestial bronze lighting bolt that literally burnt white at the power pouring through it...that was until a third person interjected before Demeter could reply.

"Zeus, If you have done ANYTHING TO MY PERCY I WILL TEAR OLYMPUS TO SHREDS!" Screeched an all too familiar, angry sounding Goddess.

"Oh hey mu..." Percy went to speak but was cut off as Persephone literally tackled her son with a hug so tight Percy thought his lungs were going to break in half. Firing off a million and one questions, Persephone spent almost a minute blubbering and asking countless questions until both Hades and Percy managed to clam her down whilst the council looked on in shock.

"Mum seriously, .FINE!" Percy stated clearly as he shook his mum slightly, causing her to finally calm down enough to take several breaths. She nodded her head calmly. Hades went to speak but was cut off by the Zeus.

"Damn it! All of you sit down and shut up! Seeing as neither of you have a throne, I suggest that you summon a throne and sit down it! We WILL have this discussion in order!" Zeus bellowed to Percy's parents.

After several moments of re-organising, Percy, his mother and father were all sat down in small thrones at the base of Demeter's throne.

Once the room had settled down, Zeus continued.

"So, Perseus, I ask you again, seeing as you are the son of my brother Hades and his queen Persephone, I take it that you are a God?" He asked as calmly as he possibly could whilst the rest of the room tensed, hoping that it wasn't the case. Percy smiled again under his helmet.

"No lord Zeus, I am no god, I am but the adopted son of Hades and Persephone. They took me in once my birth mother was killed..." Percy stated coldly as he shot a vicious yet hidden glare at Ares, his blood literally boiling in rage, taking a deep breath before continuing, "...my birth farther is Poseidon and my birth mother Adriana Gredurkas of Sparta." Percy finished calmly.

At these words, the entirety of the Olympian council froze, especially Poseidon who simply shrunk into his chair as seemingly a million things flashed back to him at once, rendering him silent as his past flooded back into his mind.

"What do you mean Adriana Gredurkas of Sparta? Sparta has not existed as a city-state for millennia unless..." The blond-haired and gray eyed Athena mused until Percy cut her off, "Yes, a little over two thousand fiver hundred years ago, Lord Hades made me partially immortal on my fourteenth birthday once I has snuck past Ladon himself and stole an apple from the tree of immortality, using an age prevention spell that preserves my age whilst not allowing my years to catch up with me once it is removed..." Perseus paused as the entire Olympian council attempted to comprehend the ramifications of such a long living child of the big three, except for Demeter. Even Athena herself was struggling...

"If what you say is true, then what have you been doing for all of this time?" Artemis sneered...she clearly knew that there was more to Percy's story than he was letting on. Swallowing slightly, Percy picked his next words very carefully. "For great periods of time between hunting monsters that this council forgot about over the ages, I trained with the greatest heroes to have ever lived, from Theseus to Achilles and the original Perseus and for a little while Orion." Percy stated as calmly as he possibly could, hoping to avoid another barrage of questions. So Percy was surprised at Artemis's next question, "Why only 'a little while' with Orion?" Artemis asked curiously whilst her brother, Apollo, raised his sunglasses in anticipation.

"Percy is ruthless when it comes to men who mistreat women. When he found out Orion's 'antics' were true, Percy forced Hades to give him a physical body so he could beat the crap out of him before designing a special little area for him to reside in within the fields of punishment which he has resided in for well over two thousand years... and I don't think Percy has any intention of letting him go any time soon..." Persephone stated calmly as she smiled at Percy, who simply nodded his armoured head.

Apollo nodded his head in approval, "I like this kid, Orion was a right dick." he grumbled whilst smiling slightly at Percy. Percy turned his head to see Artemis looking somewhat flustered and slightly embarrassed, as if she were trying to get over the fact that she had just bought the man who took care of her most hated man in history to his potential death.

Zeus held up his hand and spoke once again, "As much as I would love to hear more of these stories, there is the simple fact of what we should do with the boy. His is powerful and could therefore be a threat to us going forwards, as could his brother and sister..."

"They will be loyal. If it troubles you so much then simply send them to camp, I mean after all they will be important pieces in the upcoming war." Hestia stated calmly as she walked into the centre of the room in her average, twenty-five year old woman look. Percy smiled underneath his helm before the gravity of the words that she had just spoken hit home...

(Artemis's P.O.V)

"YOU CANNOT EXPECT ME TO GO TO CAMP WITH THOSE **WEAKLINGS**!" Perseus roared as he stood up from his seat faster than anyone previously thought possible whilst black flames slowly began to lick around his armor... flickering and prancing from piece to piece like the most elegant and agile of ballerinas.

Persephone whispered something into his ear that caused the flames to dissipate whilst Hestia stood there with her arms crossed with a somewhat annoyed look on her face, "It's that or get blasted into a million pieces Percy." Hestia replied calmly.

At these words, Percy slumped back down into his chair in defeat, knowing his "aunt" was right.

"I take it you knew about the boy as well?" Zeus growled from his throne. Hestia nodded her head calmly before she spoke again. "I said nothing because it was not my place to say anything." Hestia told Zeus calmly, who simply seemed to literally shrink into his own damned chair from the cold and steely gaze he was placed under, causing Artemis to mentally giggle somewhat.

"It was a sound strategy father. The boy needed time to grow into the warrior Artemis claims he is. The time lock spell helps in that if something were to happen to Thalia then we would have the perfect replacement for her. But in general the boy holds no grudges towards us, so it would be unwise to kill arguably the greatest weapon in this war we have over 'what ifs?' and other such petty thoughts." Athena added calmly to Hestia's words, clearly hoping that the words would sway any borderline Gods to back the motion to let the boy live.

"Okay,well all we have to do now is put all of this to a vote I suppose..." Zeus stated calmly as he ran his hand through his hair. "Who thinks that we should execute the boy before he becomes a threat?" Zeus asked calmly.

Only Dionysus raised his hand.

"All for letting the boy train at camp half-blood?"

Artemis raised her hand and was glad to see the other nine Olympians raise their hand with her. She couldn't tell what it was about Percy...but something told Artemis that he was going to be important at some stage in of the upcoming trials...and that he also deserved her respect for taking care of Orion.

"It is decided then. Perseus will go to camp half-blood for at least six months until he is either proven loyal or simply proves not be a threat." Zeus roared over the numerous insults that were being thrown Dionysus' way.

But it was Percy's last words before the council adjourned that best summed up the whole situation for the powerful child of Hades...

"Well shit!"


	6. Chapter 6: A curious request

Percy, Hades, Persephone, Demeter and Hestia all stood around in the throne room catching up for several minutes as the vast majority of Gods disappeared from the throne room in various amazing and somewhat over the top explosions of gold and reds and sometimes blue.

Eventually only Poseidon, Zeus and Artemis were remaining outside of the group. The first two were in a deep conversation about something whilst Poseidon continued to sit in his chair a blank expression on his face as he continued to literally swim in his past from what Percy could see.

"Percy, I would appreciate it if you would try NOT to kill anyone whilst at camp. It may be the best action but sometimes the shockwave's it deals out and its aftermath are not really worth it in some places, and Camp Half-Blood will be one of those places." Persephone warned her son sweetly. At this Percy could only smile slightly and nod before replying in ancient Greek, "I will do my best mother. But if they hurt my brother and sister whilst we are there then I will personally send them to father the fast way." Percy practically growled the last part. At first Persephone seemed to be trying to win a staring battle with Percy but she swiftly caved in before simply letting out a small sigh before vanishing in a storm of petals and leaves in full blossom.

Percy turned away from the small spring hurricane only to be crushed in a hug by his father. "Listen to your mother, she is only thinking about what is best for you. But do not hesitate to eliminate any threat to yourself if necessary." Hades informed Percy calmly who could only nod slightly as he was still in shock from his fathers public display of affection. "I will farther... that was my plan from the start." Percy replied calmly but with a slight cocky edge to it that only caused Hades to laugh before melting into a plethora of screaming shadows and shades before vanishing from the throne room.

"I will let my daughter Katie know that you will be staying in my cabin whilst you are confined to that hell-hole." Demeter informed Percy calmly as their green gazes met. Percy went to protest but Demeter cut him off, "I will not allow a grandson of mine to be cooped up in that damned Hermes cabin on the floor for the rest of your stay." Demeter stiffly informed Percy who quickly relented. "When she's got her mind-set she's sure got it set..." Percy grumbled as his grandmother vanished in a bright green light.

A light chuckle from behind caused Percy to smile as his gaze was met with that of his Patrons. "You did well Percy. Not many people would handle themselves so calmly in front of the Gods... or so fearcily." Hestia smiled warmly as she pulled Percy into a tight embrace. "I only acted how one should with these damned Olympians, Aunty." Percy replied calmly as his patron slowly wrapped an arm around his shoulder before slowly dragging him over to one dejected looking god of the seas.

Poseidon looked to be a man of around forty to forty-five years of age like his brother with several streaks of gray running through his hair. His skin was well tanned and slightly leathery looking in some ways like that of a white man living in a hot country like South Africa. His figure was well-built yet somewhat slender like any self-respecting surf-boarder that easily seemed to put some of the "younger" looking Gods to shame. His jaw-line was strong and defined as if carved in marble whilst his nose was perfect and unhindered by breaks and what not all the way down.

His eyes though were the giveaway that he was no ordinary man.

A deep sea-green like Percy's, Poseidon's eyes seemed to be full of life and joy when he was happy, the colour of his eyes dancing around his pupils like the most playful of morning waves. When angered and upset, his eyes transformed into a green so dark that they may as well be as black as the ocean during the darkest night. But during both occasions, there was no doubt as to the power he wielded...because just like Percy's own, his eyes were as deep as the oceans themselves...and spoke of the fury he was truly capable of unleashing.

"Lord Poseidon." Percy stated as he bowed to his birth father only a metre from the step he was sat down at, in his human height. At Percy's voice, he lifted his head out of his hands and closed the distance between the pair. He stood there as if analysing him for any lies or deceit about his age and birth father...but he clearly found none when he spoke up next.

"Perseus...I'm...so, so, so, so sorry. I would have helped but..." Percy cut off his birth fathers tear-choked voice with a small wave of his hand. "It is fine my lord, I know of the ancient laws..." At these words Poseidon brightened up slightly, but Percy continued, "...But I also need you to understand that Hades is my farther and has been for two thousand years." At these words the God of the seas expression became so heart-broken that Percy had to fight the urge to hold the old man and stop him from bawling his eyes out.

"But that does not mean I cannot have two in my life or a close uncle..." Percy replied calmly as he extended his hand towards the now happier looking God of the sea. Poseidon looked at his hand for a moment before extending his own and grasping Percy's hand in a vice like grip. "I would love that Perseus. I just hope I can make amends for leaving you on your own for so long." He replied solemnly before disappearing in a gentle sea breeze that one encountered first thing in the morning.

Percy slowly let out a huge breath that he didn't know he had been holding as he turned towards his patron. "That went a lot better than I expected." Hestia said playfully as Percy shot her an annoyed glare from underneath his helm. "You and me both. I thought he was going to start crying like a baby." Percy responded calmly, causing his patron to chuckle softly. "I'm sure that I would have been the one doing all of that comforting he would need...after all your not good at that kind of stuff, are you?" Hestia replied whilst fighting off more chuckles as they both slowly set out towards the only other remaining God in the room.

Artemis.

"Would you mind telling me what all of that was about?" Hestia asked the goddess calmly as the pair drew nearer Artemis.

The leader of the hunt sighed heavily as she turned towards the somewhat unlikely duo with a expressionless face before speaking. "I was just asked by my father to get Perseus to camp along with my hunters and those three kids from camp Half-Blood." Artemis replied with a somewhat annoyed tone in her voice as she slowly closed the distance between the three of them. Percy laughed a little before speaking, "Lady Artemis, it's absolutely fine. I can make my own way to that lovely little hell-hole." He replied sarcastically, which to his surprise, caused Artemis to chuckle slightly.

"Unfortunately, I am under orders to get you there safely so this time your going to have to come with me." Artemis replied dryly as Percy stepped forwards, nodding his head slightly. "Well then we may as well get this over and done with," Percy paused briefly to quickly send a small bow back to his patron and aunt, "...I promise I will try to get into as little trouble as possible and I will try not to kill any annoying brats whilst I'm there Aunty...but no guarantees." Percy stated in a slightly mischievous voice. Hestia laughed before nodding and then speaking to her niece, "I trust my champion will remain safe whilst around your hunters, niece?" She asked calmly but firmly...indicating the hell that would be literally raised if Artemis failed to meet her requests.

Artemis nodded timidly before Hestia vanished in a plethora of flames that danced like the Russian ballet itself.

Percy smiled slightly until a small yet strong hand placed it self on his shoulder whilst a familiar female voice rang out behind Percy.

"We need to talk a little."

(Artemis's P.O.V)

Artemis quickly lead Percy out into a small side garden just outside the palace. The grass was perfect in length and was a bright verdant green many would consider unnatural whilst tens of species of different plants from both the mortal and godly worlds mixed, providing a plethora of colours for one to look at if the ink black sky with its innumerable stars and constellations that she herself knew all off by heart.

She dragged the young (ish) Hades/Poseidon boy to a bench near the edge of the small garden. Made of solid stone carved by the greatest masonry workers of the past several centuries, even the benches in the garden seemed somewhat natural and beautiful at the same time.

Sitting herself and the boy down, Artemis took a deep breath before looking at the son of Hades...and almost regretting the action immediately.

The armor he wore was utterly terrifying. The main body was adorned with hundreds of gruesome and fearful images that caused Artemis to flinch every single time she looked at one. But the helmet though was the true point of terror.

Shaped like a screaming skull, the black helm seemed to literally cling to Perseus's head like some sort of leech. The "face" of the plate was contorted into a look of both pain and fear like someone right before their life was snuffed out by a merciless and terrifying foe that nobody could ever hope to replicate unless they had seen it on many faces before they attempted to craft the helm. And yet despite her initial repulsion, Artemis also had to admit that she actually appreciated the quality of the workmanship immensely. It had clearly been painstakingly crafted from a single piece of Stygian iron alloy, which in itself was no mean feat. The fact that said person had then gone on to add such a carefully rendered faceplate indicated the true quality of the workmanship involved.

Taking a deep breath to steady her shaky nerves, Artemis finally spoke. "Perseus, before we begin, I would like it if you would kindly remove your helmet." Percy cocked his head to the side to ask his question to which Artemis smiled slightly before answering his silent question. "I would like to see the face of the man that will be travelling with my hunters... after all I'm sure everyone would be glad to see a boy and not a machine underneath that helm of yours."

Perseus looked into the night sky on the opposite side of where Artemis was sat. Letting out a deep sigh he removed his helm before speaking.

"I warn you lady Artemis...I was forsaken by Aphrodite a long time ago." He laughed a little at his own joke whilst Artemis raised a curious eyebrow. "I'm sure it can't be that..." but Artemis almost cried out in shock when she finally got her first look of the young man.

His eyes were a beautiful sea-green like his fathers and Demeter's... seemingly holding not only untold power and fury in their depths...but they also belied the young face of an old warrior who had seen enough death in one lifetime to fill a thousand worlds and still have enough faces to fill another thousand more full of the faces of millions whilst a mop of midnight black, spiky hair resided on his head.

His skin was almost see through it was so white. It looked like fresh fallen snow mixed with the essence of a ghost, which did nothing but add to the ferocious and intimidating look of his scars. The most major of which were three fairly thick and deep looking scars that ran down his left cheek in perfect harmony with increasing depth until simply molding to the bone of his strong jaw-line. The second was a painful looking, thick and deep scar that ran down the entire length of the right hand side of his face whilst clumsy stitch marks zig-zagged across.

But despite that, Artemis could appreciate that he was, for all intents and purposes...rather good looking for a male once she looked past the scars.

Artemis scolded herself when she heard a small chuckle escape Percy's lips as she must've been staring at him for a little while like a terrified child. "Don't worry, I have that effect even on my own mother every time and I've had these for well over two thousand years." Percy replied calmly as he leant forwards. Artemis shook her head as she fought off the images of his scared face from her mind before speaking again. "Sorry...I just didn't expect it to be that bad is all. And besides, I needed to be able to see your eyes for this next question." Artemis suddenly caught herself mid sentence and went to apologise for the insult she had accidentally thrown in but luckily Percy spoke first.

"Do not worry about it my lady. I do not take offence. I am an ugly bastard and I know it. As for seeing my eyes, I must ask why you are so curious..." Percy stated in his hollow voice as he met Artemis's silvery gaze with his own green, steely gaze that even made Artemis almost flinch.

Artemis took a deep breath before speaking again. "The reason is I need to be able to judge whether or not I am putting my faith in the right man to look after a member of my hunt for me." Percy raised an eyebrow, which Artemis was only happy to respond to. "Trust me, I feel as uneasy as you do with what I am about to ask but I feel that there is no-one powerful enough to watch over her appart from you."

Artemis paused as she realised he was going to more than likely say no to her request, so to say she was shocked by his answer was an understatement. "I guess that you want me to look after your lieutenant when we go to camp incase said girl gets into trouble?" Percy asked casually to a shocked Artemis.

Shaking her head before laughing, Artemis could only smile at the young man before nodding her head and speaking, "Something tells me that she will face many hardships soon and I would like it if you could help her through these times." Percy smiled slightly as he spoke. "Don't worry lady Artemis. The girl will stay safe under my protection. I will do anything and everything I can to ensure she gets back to you alive...I swear it on the river Styx."

Thunder rumbled overhead whilst Artemis's jaw nearly hit the floor. Why would he make such a binding oath? Surely he knew that if the fates demanded Zoe's death then they would get it! Why was he willing to take such an oath...one that could lead to his own death if it was broken?

Seemingly reading her thoughts, Percy smirked before speaking to Artemis again. "I made such an oath as I know that it is more than doable. And I have no intention of letting anyone die on my watch again." He growled quietly. Artemis nodded her head...something had clearly happened to the boy... and she would simply have to find out what that was at a later date.

Artemis flicked her head to Percy who simply nodded his own before the duo disappeared in a brilliant flash of silver light.

(Zoe's P.O.V)

To say that Zoe was surprised that the boy was still in one piece would be a slight understatement.

She was almost certain that lord Zeus would have simply killed him immediately. Because if there was one thing that Zeus hated more than his authority or demands being questioned, it was letting powerful demigods who were not his own children live and possibly become a potential threat to Olympus...a prospect Zoe had thought ridiculous but suddenly seemed all to possible with the boy.

After all, even though she had only felt his power for several seconds...Zoe could easily say that he was the most powerful Demigod she had ever ran across in her extremely long life...and considering the number of heroes she had seen rise and fall...the number of empires and kingdoms she had out-lived and pre-dated at the same time and all of the Demigods that had lived in their shadows... claiming that the boy was the most powerful Zoe had ever seen was not a claim she made lightly.

But it was true nonetheless.

The power had literally been rolling off of him at some points that it was comparable to getting hit by a tidal wave opposed to one males power...it was unreal. It spoke of age and experience as well as unimaginable ability and skill. It was incredible and Zoe actually felt rather happy that she had gotten to meet the most powerful demigod ever.

And she was even happier that her saviour had not been turned into ash by Zeus...even if the king of Olympus would have had one bloody hard time of it.

Artemis immediately made a bee-line for Zoe once she had flashed back from the council meeting, ushering her into her tent for a private conversation before spending the last hour or so of the night brining Zoe up to speed regarding Percy's past... mentioning his true heritage...but holding something back...

"Milady's holding something back from me..." Zoe mused to herself as her mistress finished her recount of the nights meetings.

"So I take it we have to go to that damned camp then if we cannot come with thee on this hunt?" Zoe growled as she slowly raised her cup of water to her lips. Artemis nodded sadly before speaking, "I must start this hunt in places I cannot bring you girls..." Zoe's gaze dropped slightly at the prospect, but Artemis continued, "...Don't worry about it though. The boy will be there and judging from Hades and Persephone's orders and reactions...I think it is safe to say that the boy will be a good source of entertainment for you all." At these words Zoe couldn't help but chuckle and raze her gaze...

Perhaps it would be an interesting time at camp if theses words were anything to go by.

Stepping outside into the morning light, Zoe was somewhat disheartened to be greeted by the sight of that arrogant prick that called himself a son of Poseidon, Alex O'Connell if Zoe actually remembered correctly, whilst Perseus seemed to be nowhere nearby. His arm was still in a sling and he was still nursing his severely bruised ego from his first encounter with Hades' crown prince. And even after almost six hours or so of story telling and ego boosting, the idiot still did not seem to understand that the hunters of Artemis were not interested in men for these exact reasons.

Alex smiled cockily as he seemingly checked his hair before walking over to Zoe with what he called "swag", (i.e walking with a sway in his shoulders). Slowly, Zoe tensed up, because unlike her somewhat polite sisters, Zoe would take no time in simply hitting the boy in his most prized possession before telling him to get lost in a more than blunt manner.

"Hey gorgeous, why don't you come over with me and get to know the hero of Olympus...because I sure as hell want to get to know you." He asked smugly, whilst Zoe had to resist the urge to throw up BIG TIME in this arrogant little sods face. But she settled for the second best option instead. "Get out of thy way _**boy**_. I have no intention of speaking to thee." She sneered as she slowly went to walk past her only for him to step in her path.

"Come on sweet-cheeks. I bet a thousand years in the hunt have taught you some...ah interesting tricks. And don't bother looking for that weirdo from earlier, he can't even compare to me." He cocked an eyebrow up as he expected his rather cheesy pick-up line to work on a maiden like herself.

Zoe looked back to see that her mistress was already elsewhere in the camp. "Get out of thy way and I will let thee escape with thy manhood." She snarled whilst Alex just laughed, closing the distance between himself and Zoe. "Ya know, I always have liked girls who play hard to ge..." Was as far as Alex got before a loud crack emanated from behind him, sounding like someone had literally just broken a log across his head, whilst his eyes rolled up into his ego boosted head and his eyelids quickly clamped shut.

Once he had collapsed in a rather undignified heap, Zoe looked up to see her own brown gaze be greeted by a set of steely, sea-green eyes that actually seemed both endearing and terrifying at the same time.

"I hope that bastard didn't give you too much hassle." Perseus stated calmly as he cracked his left knuckles with his right hand. He wore a jet black leather jacket, gloves and jet black hoodie underneath, whilst the hood obscured his face along with a small black ascot. Around his legs were a pair of ink black jeans and combat boots on his feet. Zoe nodded before raising an eyebrow and asking a question that had bugged her for a little while whilst Alex's camp-mates came racing uphill to save the poor bastard. "Why always speak in ancient Greek? We live in the twenty-first century and thee should speak the most modern language in order to blend in."

Perseus laughed in a hollow manner that unnerved Zoe before speaking again, this time in English. "Because like you Zoe, I come from a place where Greek was my first language and is still actually my favourite above all else." He replied in a somewhat posh sounding English voice with a calm and somewhat steely edge to it. Zoe found herself speechless for several seconds. How did know how to speak proper ancient Greek? And how the hell did he pick up such a nice, velvety accent?

Fortunately she was saved from an awkward silence by one very pissed off daughter of Athena and Zeus. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" Thalia Grace barked as her entire body slowly began to spark with electricity dancing from place to place. "Yeah! Why the hell did you have to hurt him again!" Annabeth Chase screeched as she slowly began to try to bring Alex out of his unconscious state.

"That arrogant bastard was trying to hit on a hunter of Artemis. He should be thankful because I am sure that a huntress would've been a lot less merciful." Percy growled whilst reverting back to ancient Greek.

Thalia looked set to argue but was cut off as a loud roar was heard behind the group...

Zoe turned around to only be forced to look the other way whilst shielding her eyes from the blinding light from a certain God's little sun-chariot.

"Oh this day just gets worse and worse..." Zoe grumbled as she looked back around to be greeted by a red-hot Maserati Spyder with heat waves literally rolling off of it sitting some ten metres away from the Hunters camp whilst melting all the snow in a ten foot radius into nothing more than water.

"Is that who I think it is?" Annabeth asked as she stuttered over her words.

Perseus laughed before answering.

"Yup. That is the sun chariot of Phoebus Apollo..." Percy paused as if to add dramatic effect whilst turning his upper body to make sure that his own steely sea-green gaze was met by Zoe's much softer and almost kinder gaze before continuing his little speech to the daughter of Athena.

"And we all know how much the Hunters LOVE him." Percy remarked sarcastically whilst shooting Zoe an amused look with his eyes, which caused Zoe to laugh as she imagined the grin or smile that Perseus was probably flaunting like crazy under the shadows of his hood...

"Hey ya' little sis! Ya' miss me so much already?" Asked an all to familiar slightly southern American accented voice, to which Perseus pretended to vomit to slightly to Zoe, causing to laugh a little again and smile somewhat under her own jackets hood...

Camp was **deffinantly** going to be interesting this time around.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_Hey Guys, _

_Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I have been extremely busy with Rugby pre-season, school, homework, Rugby fixtures and my dad decided to break our wireless router with his morning cup of coffee, so I have been without Internet for several days until BT decided to come and fix the god damned thing whilst the other things on the list have kept me away from my PC... that and I split J2O on it...but that's another story. _

_Any ways, here it is. Our little hero is on his way to "the weaklings camp". I wonder how he'll get on with them all...and more specifically his half-brother? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm...oh the possibilities for mayhem and hell on Earth are almost countless!_

_Also, I would like to see plenty of reviews regarding the slightly altered writing style. I tried to use slightly less description so I would be able to get a little bit more done. Also, I would love to hear a response from my lovely followers as to how you think the story is slowly unravelling so far and what you generally think of the whole thing in General... and damn you all if you don't keep bloody voting in the pol damn it! _

_Please also appreciate, I will try to update weekly from here on out but no promises! I also hope that these two chapters will sate your hunger for a few days at least..._

_With all of that done, all I have left to type is, _

_Read,Review,Fave and Follow, and, _

_Of course, _

_Keep it real like a Ninja, _

_CBF. _

_**P.S**: I am looking for a Beta reader, so feel free to PM me if you would like the position or if you would like to reccomend someone. Also I am looking for someone to bounce a couple of ideas back and forth with if anyone is interested. Again, PM about it all and I will be only to happy to reply. _


	7. Chapter 7: Camp

To say that Percy was somewhat disappointed with Thalia Grace, the daughter of Zeus, would be an understatement to put it politely.

Everything had started off well. Apollo had directed the entire cohort of hunters and campers onto his now converted Maserati spydre into a shuttle bus, with Percy calmly but forcefully securing the entire back row of the bus to himself...along with several rows of seats in front. After all, he may have been forced into the same area as these gods-forsaken campers and man-hating hunters, but that did not mean he had to put up with any of their crap or socalise with them in any capacity...after all, the fools on this bus were so short-lived and blind that Percy almost felt envious of them all.

After all, they all had relatively quiet and calm lives only because Percy and a few others were working from behind the scenes to ensure that History eventually had a positive outcome, whilst spilling more blood than Percy would ever care to remember.

Fortunately, everyone had taken the hint and steered well clear of the child of Hades... except for Apollo.

"You wanna' drive the sun chariot?" Apollo hollered back to Percy, who was currently enthralled by a copy of "The lord of the rings" that he had finally managed to get around to reading. Percy raised his gaze to be greeted by the sight of a young man no older than twenty-two or three, with a slight yet muscular frame that told Percy he was not exactly built for in-close fighting. His skin was well tanned and his face incredibly handsome. His jaw line was chissled like it was made of stone and his nose turned up slightly like he was some sort of Justin Bieber wannabe. Percy just sent the sun-god a glare from underneath his hood that gave him a perfectly clear answer.

Apollo smiled timidly before quickly turning his attention to the daughter of Zeus... and from there on out the whole journey had been nothing but a massive pain in the arse.

The moment Apollo asked, Percy could see Thalia tense up slightly and stiffen as if what Apollo was asking her to do was somewhat crazy. Percy smirked slightly underneath his ascot as he watched the daughter of Zeus look to both of her friends who quickly shook their heads. "A daughter of Zeus afraid of flying...oh the irony of the whole situation." Percy thought to himself as he quickly pulled out a pair of headphones and an ink black Ipod. "I just hope she doesn't end up getting us all killed with her pathetic fear." Percy mused to himself as he quickly put on his headphones and scrolled through his music library until he found a calm piece of Chinese flute music to listen to in an attempt to help calm him down...after all this was going to be one stressful flight if the girls reaction was anything for Percy to go on.

And boy had he been right.

Although he had his eyes closed for the majority of it and the music loud enough so all he could hear mostly was the melodic, bittersweet and dulcet tones of the music he was listening to, judging from the amount of jerking and faint sounds he could hear, Percy could safely assume that the rest of the bus had forgotten about their seat-belts and that Thalia still had A LOT to learn about driving in general...let alone the single most valuable vehicle to have ever existed.

After several hundred violent turns and jerks that made Percy feel like he was on a wild stallion and not a school bus, things slowly began to calm down and the dull sounds that Percy assumed were screams of utter fear and horror. Opening his eyes, Percy was greeted by the sight of a group of disheveled and rather ill-looking hunters, whilst the campers looked practically green from the amount of sloshing about their stomachs had been doing for the best part of their journey. Finally letting his curiosity get the better of him, Percy decided to have a quick peak outside of his window and was greeted by a glorious sight.

New York looked to be under around a million tonnes of snow whilst more kept on falling every second like a relentless torrent that was trying to drown the city in an ocean of glistening snowflakes. The mighty spires and tower blocks of Manhattan and Brooklyn were graced with light covering of snow that glistened and glinted in the light like gigantic icicles for miles around whilst the roads were a plethora of colours from the huge number of cars that were slowly creeping and snaking their way through the roads and into or out of the city like a massive que of tortoises or some other pathetically slow-moving animal.

"Quite the sight." Percy mused quietly to himself as he allowed his brain to process the glorious sight of New York city in the middle of winter, watching as towering spires and complexes slowly gave way to blanketed fields of snow and frozen, dead forests that simply allowed the howling wind to rip through the countryside at an unprecedented rate that made the whole place seem more like some sort of frozen wasteland and not the state home to one of the largest cities in the entire world...and all the time the vehicle was descending.

Letting out a small sigh of relief, Percy quickly grabbed ahold of the small bag of things his father had sent him during his waiting time for Apollo before feeling his stomach lurch slightly as the bus made landfall with a somewhat abrupt halt. Percy looked down the aisle to see the entire bus up on its feet, all to keen to get solid ground back underneath their feet...not that Percy could blame them at all, especially as they all seemed to forget that they did have access to seat-belts.

Being the last one-off of the bus helped Percy relax somewhat, after all it provided him with the most time to react to a hostile environment or other such issues.

Jumping down off of the steps, the sound of the crushing snow was drowned out by the sound of multiple gasps emanating from the large crowd opposite him. A collection of some twenty campers in various assortments of winter clothing from coats to the traditional sweat-shirt. Percy smiled slightly at the looks he was getting from all of the campers...and they all stemed back from a single emotion.

Fear.

"Perfect... at least they will leave me alone for now I suppose." Percy thought happily to himself as a faint thud of hooves made its way to his ears. Turning his gaze, Percy watched as one of the first people Percy had been forced to learn about oh so long ago sauntered up to him.

The man in question had a regular upper body that was covered by a red sweat-shirt covered with a white hoof-print design. His face sported a curly, somewhat messy and ragged beard that covered the vast majority of his neck like some sort of scarf. His jaw line though was still well-defined and rather clear even to Percy, whilst his nose tapered to a slight point whilst his ageing skin was still rather supple and young-looking with only a few wrinkles belying his age... and if he hadn't had the lower half of a brilliant white stallion that blended into the countryside like camouflage, you could almost write him off as any other man. This was Chiron, the legendary teacher of thousands of heros over the years.

Letting a small smile grace his lips, Chiron bowed his head slightly to the huntress at the head of the group before speaking, "Ahhh Zoe, it is good to see the hunters again, I take it you will be staying with us for a little while?" Chiron asked with a somewhat subtle yet detectable tone of worry. Unfortunately (for him at least) the huntress named Zoe simply nodded her head before speaking, "Milady hunts a beast that we cannot help with and so are going to be staying a short while. I take it cabin number eight is back possession of all of its bunk-beds?" Zoe asked calmly whilst shooting a glance to several whistling campers who Percy could easily see to be children of Hermes...if the bulging pockets of loot were anything to go by.

Chiron nodded before Zoe quickly signalled her troupe to follow as the waiting crowd of demigods parted like the red sea as the hunters quickly marched off down a long, winding path.

That was when all the attention turned to Percy.

"I must ask my dear, but I was under the assumption that we were recovering two children...where is the second ?" Chiron asked calmly to the raven haired daughter of Zeus, Thalia, who shifted uneasily in her spot for a couple of seconds. "Well...it's kindda hard to explain..." She replied timidly before the dense son of Poseidon spoke up, "It was going fine until that asshole over there messed everything up!" Alex growled as he turned his gaze towards Percy...who was already less than twenty inches from his face.

"If you try to pin your pathetic attempts of rescuing my siblings on me then I will make sure that I give you a matching one of those." Percy growled in ancient Greek whilst pointing to Alex's broken arm as Alex stumbled back like an idiot, landing arse first into the snow. Percy quickly turned his gaze back to Chiron before giving him a small nod of recognition. "Chiron, it is an honour to finally meet you." Percy stated in his hollow voice causing every camper behind Chiron to shiver somewhat...at least they were still scared of him.

"And you my boy. Though I must ask what you mean by siblings?" Chiron replied politely. Percy sighed a little before speaking, "My father will send them back to the surface soon and I expect that they will be staying in the Hermes cabin?" Percy replied whilst Chiron nodded his head slightly. "But unfortunately, so will..." But Chiron was cut off by a third, dulcet female voice, "It's fine Chiron, my mother has asked me to take in her Grandson for his time her."

Percy smiled slightly as the girl came into view. She had fairly long brown hair that was tied back into a ponytail that seemed to suit her slender and elegant figure that would've made many a wannabe models jealous. Her skin was ever so softly sun-kissed and her face perfectly shaped in every single possible way, her jaw-line neatly defined whilst her cheeks seemed ever so slightly rouged to perfection and her lips small and cute like that one girl on campus... whilst her eyes glowed an all too familiar colour...

Verdant Green... just like Demeter.

The girl came to within half a metre of Percy before extending out her right hand, "My name is Katie Gardener, I must say it's nice to finally meet you Perseus." Katie said in a cheerful voice whilst Percy quickly shot his hand forwards and shook her hand briefly. "Likewise." Was all he grunted as he motioned for her to lead him to the cabin. Katie looked over to Chiron for approval who simply nodded his head before quickly adding on as the pair began to set off,

"Perseus...I would appreciate it if you would stop by the big house so we may talk a little bit later." Chiron stated with an air of niceness but Percy knew that it was a thin veil for a command that the old centaur expected to be fulfilled. Percy nodded his head before setting off at a brisk pace with Katie...

(10 minutes later.)

To say Percy was bored would be a damned understatement.

He was going insane and he had only been in the wretched hell-hole for about ten minutes. Katie had been rather talkative and annoying in Percy's oppinion...always grinning away like she didn't have a care in the world whilst treating Percy like he was some sort of newbie to the whole "demigod" world thing. And for the most part Percy just wanted to scream, put his hands over his ears and run like hell from the blabbering girl.

"But no. You decided to stay and nod like a bobble head every five bloody seconds just to keep your cover. Never mind the fact you'll probably go insane in this crap-hole whilst your here." Percy growled in the back of his head as Katie blabbered on about the gods and what not like he was a simpleton.

Finally, after what seemed like the most agonising wait in recent times for Percy, they finally made it to their cabin. The main building was probably fifteen metres long and about six wide. The main walls were made of a smooth looking stone that seemed almost natural...as if the chisels of a master carpenter had never touched the rock. Over said walls grew an assortment of "winter plants" that Percy knew he should have been able to name given that his grandmother was the Goddess of such things. But the most blunt reason Percy had for it was that he really didn't give two craps about such small things. The roof seemed to be made of thatched hay one would expect to find in a medieval village (Percy had seen a few that he HADN'T burnt to the ground in his time)...and how the hell it didn't collapse under the falling snow Percy would never be able to figure out.

"Well here it is. It may not look like much but it's home!" Katie stated cheerfully whilst Percy simply nodded his head before speaking again, "Katie, I need to go speak to Chiron, so if you could put my bag on a bunk...Preferally on the left hand side of the door and away from any windows I would appreciate it." Percy coldly told the daughter of Demeter in a tone that basically informed her this was what was going to happen. Katie nodded her head cheerfully as Percy handed her his bag swiftly and stiffly before Percy made a beeline for the "Big house."

(Katie's P.O.V)

To say Kaite's new cabin-mate was somewhat reclusive was putting it lightly.

The entire way, Percy had been virtually silent like some sort of moving statue or Automaton from the Hephaestus cabin, as if the whole prospect of camp was completely boring and like the world of the Gods and monsters was something that he had dealt with on a daily basis like it was his regular life. He also carried himself with such a cold and ruthless confidence that screamed some sort of military training to Katie...the only other people who could match him in this respect were the Ares cabin members, but even then, they let their posture slip every so often. But Percy...every step he took oozed precision and a cold calculating aura that made even the smartest and best of the Athenian cabin look incredibly stupid in comparison and the best of the Ares cabin look like untrained idiots. He was something of an enigma... cold, distant and unfriendly... but then again Katie had no idea about his past.

"Can't really jump to any conclusions..." Katie muttered to herself as she picked her way across her cabin until she found a bed right in the corner of the room that met Percy's slightly odd requests. "It's not like someone's going to kick down the door and attack us or anything. I mean, this is CAMP after all... it's the safest place for us half-bloods to live in this new world." Katie quickly set the bag down and went to leave.

But curiosity got the better of her as she quickly found herself back by the bedside and her hands on the zips of the rucksack. "I shouldn't really be doing this!" Katie screamed at herself in her mind as she slowly began un-zipping the bag. But her curious side answered back as her hands stopped again, "It can't hurt just to have a little peep...after all if he's not going to talk I may as well get to know him through other means." Katie argued with herself as Katie's hands began to slowly undo the zips again whilst she continued to argue with her conscious.

"Come on! He clearly is a private guy and you should be respecting his privacy girl!" But this time Katie's hands kept on moving and her curious side won through, "Well I'll never get to know him if he's a cold-hearted bastard the entire time, so I may as well take the initiative." Katie resolved as she quickly undid the last run of the zip.

Quickly, Katie began to remove the contents of the bag. First out came the usual stuff that a person would bring with them, for example shirts and trousers, sleepware and several more private items of clothing that Katie kind of felt self conscious about handling in person...She'd seen male underwear in stores and what not, but touching it in real person was a whole nother thing.

That was when her hands finally hit something solid.

Quickly, Katie pulled out a small square box made of some sort of lightweight black metal. The box itself had a single engraving upon it, "Μόνο σε θάνατο κάνει το καθήκον τέλος".

"Only in death does duty end." Katie whispered to herself as her hands slowly moved over the latch of the box before a loud cough caused Katie to almost scream in shock as she jumped off of the bed to face behind herself to be greeted by the last campers Katie expected to see.

Thalia and Annabeth.

"Wh...what are you guys doing here?" Katie stammered as she tried to cover up all of the things that she had thrown out all over the place during her brief search through Percy's bag. Thalia smirked slightly as she closed the distance between the pair before speaking, "Well I was hoping to catch the newest member of the camp to continue a discussion we never got to finish earlier today." Thalia replied calmly with a slight evil glint her eyes... clearly this discussion was not the usual pleasantries that one was subjected to.

"Well your out of luck, Percy is..." But Katie found herself being cut off by a familiar, cold, male voice...

"Right here."

(Percy's P.O.V)

Percy had to stifle a laugh as the three girls literally jumped out of their skin when Percy's ghost like voice crept into the room. Katie let out a small yelp and Annabeth seemed to turn several shades whiter than even Percy. But the daughter of Zeus, Thalia, stood strong and let a small grin creep across her face.

"Ahhhh just the guy I'm looking for." Thalia said casually as she took a step towards Percy who refused to flinch under her attempt at an intimidating stare. Percy scoffed as he brought himself to within half a metre of Thalia. "If you have something to say spawn of Zeus then I suggest that you say it now or I'll be on my way." He hissed as Thalia's eyes went wide at the insult whilst Annabeth's jaw nearly hit the floor at the apparent arrogance Percy was giving off. "Yeah, I have a problem with people who hit my camp-mates on the back of the head and then just think that they are going to get away with it." She hissed straight back causing Percy to laugh slightly.

"If that pitiful excuse of a boy is what you call a camp-mate then I would just _love _to see what you call a friend or comrade." Percy spat venomously causing Thalia's gaze to narrow. "You've got a lot to say for yourself newbie. I think perhaps I should show you how things work around here." She hissed back whilst Percy took another step towards the girl whilst brining himself up to his full height, cracking his neck slowly like some sort of cartoon character as a small smile crept onto his face. "Brilliant, I can't wait to make you look like a fool. Meet me in the arena in twenty minutes so I can tear you a new one then get a nice early night." Percy stated calmly. The younger girl Annabeth looked like she was about to explode in rage but luckily Thalia spoke up first.

"Yeah right. Twenty minutes, Arena, and a major show up for you asshole!" Thalia growled as her electrical blue eyes narrowed before she headed out of the room, with her pet dog-like friend in tow behind her.

Percy smiled inwardly before turning his steely gaze onto Katie.

"Judging by the amount of stuff you've fished out, you've seen quite a bit..." Percy stated coldly as the younger (sort of) girl began to squirm slightly under his ruthless glare. But Percy quickly relaxed a little, feeling bad that he was clearly scaring the crap out of Kaite, after all, he hadn't exactly been very talkative.

"I know I haven't exactly spoken to you much but there is a reason for that. I will partly explain it later but for now I have yet another arrogant child of the big three to deal with." And with that Percy exited the dorm.

(Zoe's P.O.V, Twenty minutes later.)

Zoe was squished between her sister Phoebe and Diana in the damned camps arena for possibly their first little bit of entertainment whilst they were stuck in the hell hole.

The daughter of Zeus and Hades seemed to share the same rivalry and hatred as their godly parent, with Thalia calling Perseus and arrogant asshole that needed to be taken down a few pegs whilst Percy simply payed no heed to the girls insults and comments as they got ready for their fight. Thalia had been swinging and stabbing with her spear for a little over three minutes as she got ready, each one oozing accuracy and precision. But Perseus...

Perseus was just kneeling down in a monk-like meditation position, an aura of calm and serenity slowly cascading from him.

"Stupid boy. As much as I like to admit it, Thalia is a great warrior. And with no tricks, the boy is going to get torn to shreds." Phoebe sneered as her sister Diana nodded her head in approval whilst Zoe stayed silent, analysing the enigma like Perseus. "If the academy was anything to go by...this could be one interesting fight." Zoe voiced to her sisters who snorted slightly at the prospect of a male beating Thalia, let alone some newby like this Perseus, whilst the other hunters and campers began to place bets amongst themselves on who was going to win.

After several more moments, Chiron finally spoke up, "Perseus, Thalia. Your duel today is a weapons only fight but Perseus may summon his weapons of choice before we begin." He paused as if to add dramatic effect before continuing, "The winner is the one who either forces a yield or manages to incapacitate their opponent first!" Chiron proclaimed loudly.

Slowly Percy raised himself to his knees before the ground began to tremble as the same midnight black spear as before shot out of the ground, the screams and cries of the damned echoing from the tip of the blade like the chilling calls of a legion of ghosts, causing the majority of campers and some hunters to flinch at the hellish sound.

Thalia snorted with laughter before speaking in a mocking tone, "Your party tricks are not going to save you now. Just back out and walk away with a little dignity." She called out across to Perseus, causing Zoe to frown slightly. "She is sounding far too much like a male for my liking..." Zoe thought to herself whilst Percy just continued to stare at the young daughter of Zeus with his murderous glare. "Sorry but that over-inflated fantasy world that you call your head is about to be popped...so get ready for one nasty surprise." Percy growled out before Chiron finally shouted out the one word everyone had wanted to hear.

"FIGHT!"

(Percy's P.O.V)

Immediately, Percy and Thalia pressed onto their watch and bracelet respectively, causing two very different shields to spring to life.

Thalia's was a direct copy of the shield that her farther gave to his daughter Athena, Aegis. A terrifying silver coloured shield with the terrifying and down right hideous head of Medusa the gorgon implanted into the shield, causing almost everyone in the stands to flinch or let out a small string of greek cuss words.

Percy however just smiled underneath his ascot.

His shield was made of a light blend of Stygian iron and human steel and sat in his right hand. The main body was a nightmarish black that seemed to have spewn forth from hell itself. The edge of the shield was lined with gold just like Percy's own personal combat armour, adding a sense of beauty and detail to the shield that showed a lot of time had been put into it. Then came the actual pattern on the shield, a casual, upside down V with a sword and spear crossing behind it, the latter crossing from left to right and the former from right to left. And underneath it all was written a small cadence that Percy lived by...the one so many before him and those few who had severed with him had lived and died by...

Only in death does duty end.

The moment Percy's shield sprang to life, he immediately went onto offence, looking to test Thalia's skills with coping with early pressure well.

Using his own speed and agility, Percy constantly looked like he was going to change directions as he made his towards Thalia, who was eyeing his feet more than his spear. "Perfect." Percy thought, as he used his viper like speed to send his hellish spear crashing forwards at almost blinding speeds towards Thalia's feet. The young daughter of Zeus barely caught notice of this as she clumsily moved her feet backwards whilst using her own spear to half-heartedly block the attack.

Knowing this would be the case, Percy immediately leveled his shield out so it was perpendicular to the ground before using it like a makeshift sword, violently swinging the light yet strong material with a cold and calculating air. Fortunately for Thalia she managed to raise her shield in time to block the attack, but not before a bone-wrenching clang emanated from the contact, with metal screeching on metal. Stumbling back, Thalia only just managed to gain a tentative footing before Percy charged forwards again, swinging his spear with a casual and calculating air as the shafts smashed home several times, with both combatants altering their grips with great grace and ease, but Percy always seemed to really be on the attack...even when Thalia pressed forwards.

Breaking apart for several moments, Percy quickly took note of the girls poor foot placement, and decided to capitalise on it by charging forwards again.

Darting forwards with the grace and speed of any hunter or wild stag, Percy almost left burn marks instead of footprints as he sprang into the air, his spear raised and jerked back like some sort of vipers head.

Thalia's eyes widened at the attack as she quickly bought up her shield before Percy's attack smashed home with missile like accuracy...

And effect.

(Chiron's P.O.V)

There was another bone-wrenching crash as Peresus' spear slammed home, causing Chiron to wince slightly as Thalia stumbled back massively.

Not waiting for her to regain her footing, Chiron watched as Percy lunged forwards with his shield and smashed it into the thin wooden staff of Thalia's spear. The shaft shattered into a thousand pieces as if it were a twig made of glass, causing Thalia to jump back and reach for the standard sword on her hip, wiping it out with a distinctive, snake-like hiss.

Chiron watched as the young child of Hades slammed his spear into the ground before pulling out a small, silver pen. At this, Thalia finally let her anger get the better of her. "ARE YOU SERIOUS! YOUR GONNA FIGHT ME WITH A PEN? ARE YOU TRYING TO INSULT ME?" She screeched whilst Perseus casually uncapped the fountain pen, causing a gorgeous, two foot long celestial bronze blade to spring to life. Just about everyone save Chiron, and rather oddly the lieutenant of the hunters, Zoe (who seemed to turn slightly white), jumped out of their skin in surprise, Thalia included, causing Perseus to let a small, dark and cold chuckle escape his mouth.

"Looks can be deceptive, Thalia Grace." He mocked, hoping to get another rise out of the easily angered daughter of Zeus...and he was rewarded for his efforts spectacularly.

Thalia let out a war-cry as she sprinted forwards, clearly looking to impale Perseus and regain some credibility against the new camper...even if Chiron knew it was rather futile.

As the blade of Thalia's sword came to within about a foot of Perseus' body, said boy swerved his abdomen to the left to avoid the razor-sharp edges of the blade before allowing the blade to travel slightly into the space between his shield arm and body before wrenching his entire body around with machine like fluidity. Then without a moment's hesitation, Perseus jerked his shield up into the air, rendering Thalia's sword utterly useless...but Percy's very much free to cause damage.

Without any hesitation, Percy bought his mysterious sword scorching over the top of his shield, forcing Thalia to throw her shield up in front of her face to stop herself being skewered like a pig, causing another terrifying screech of metal to sound out around the arena. But this caused the young daughter of Zeus to place no control on her balance. "He's forcing her to offset her own balance. If she doesn't set her feet properly..." But Chiron was dragged out of his thoughts as if on que, Percy shunted his body forwards...

Sending the daughter of Zeus smashing to the floor.

(Thalia's P.O.V)

Before Thalia could even let out a pained cry at her rough introduction to the floor, she felt a cold feeling press down gently on the back of her neck.

Turning around, Thalia found a beautiful blade pressed against her neck, and a pair of steely sea-green eyes burning straight into her own electrical-blue gaze. "Yield?" Percy asked with a cold and emotionless tone. Thalia looked to her left and right for a way out of the situation, but all she saw was fresh, golden sand and many shocked looking campers. Letting a small sigh escape, Thalia nodded her head. And as fast as the blade appeared, in the blink of an eye, it was replaced by a gloved hand. Thalia looked up to see Percy stood over her with an almost softer look in his eyes...a mix of calm and respect. "I bet he's just gonna let go and let me fall flat on my arse...but then again..." Thalia looked at the new camper with an air of apprehension, but after several seconds of weighing up the pro's and con's, she finally accepted his hand up...and found herself shooting to her feet in his strong yet gentle grip.

Once on her feet, Thalia was forced to crane her neck greatly in order to get her gaze to meet that of Percy's. "Well fought daughter of Zeus. Your actually one of the few to have lasted so long against me... making you one of the best I've ever fought...and the best I've fought in a long time." Percy stated plainly. Thalia looked at him slightly shocked. She had only ten minutes ago been insulting him and goading him, and yet here he was holding his tongue and actually congratulating her. It made Thalia feel somewhat guilty for being so harsh on him in the first place... but it wasn't like she really wanted to.

Well, yeah he gave off this arrogant air, and he seemed completely incapable of talking like a normal human. But Thalia mainly acted the way she did because she kind of had to. After all, she didn't want to appear disloyal to Alex by being kind to the violent newbie, seeing as he did manage to get the golden fleece out of the sea of monsters which lead to her revival, so she kind of owed him. That and the last thing Thalia needed was the jerk making her life any more difficult than it already was.

As if reading her thoughts, Percy spoke quietly to her, "Better to be the right hand of the devil than his path, huh?" He said with a small twinkle in his eyes, causing Thalia to look at him in utter shock. But that shock was quickly replaced with a small smile and a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks, "Yeah, you have no idea." She replied with her smile growing even more when Percy spoke up next, "Don't worry...things are about to take a bit of a U-turn here."

Thalia went to reply but was cut off by a horrific scream burrowing into her ears. Immediately, she looked to Percy who simply nodded...

And the pair charged out of the Arena with the rest of camp in tow.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx**

_Hey Guys, _

_ Well I'm back and here's chapter seven! And this, thankfully, ends our build-up chapters. Finally we can get on with the damned "Titan's curse" quest line. I mean I'm bored of writing all of this and I'm kindda glad that I can finally get the story in gear in terms of plot movement ect. _

_As a quick note before I get started with my typical info section and what not, I would just like to mass-reply to several reviews: Several people have noticed that the opening and parts of the story have bared sembalance to Anakunmonsol14's story Altered Destinies. And they are right. I based the opening off of it as I feel it provided me with the best starting point, but from here on out everything is my own idea and story. I simply loosely used Anakunmonsol14's opening as it fits the best with my story, But I promise you all, (and said Author if you by some mirical end up reading this!) everything past here is the original story with my own stuff based around it! _

_Any ways, now that I've done that, I would like to thank you so much for all of the support that I've been getting from all of you of late. It has been unreal! 211 follows, 167 fave's and 104 reviews. That coupled with 13,418 views as of me typing this and being a part of two communities, I genuienly feel incredibly humbled and awed by your continued support, for example 30 reviews for the last chapter alone is incredible. Please, let's try and up even that amazing number, because in the end you guys are the sole reason that I am writing this story, and your support is what makes me get my fat arse in gear and get writing for all of you to enjoy this(hoepfully) amazing story. But for that to happen I need to hear what you think about the story, and the only way to do that is by you guys reviewing the shit out of the story! _

_Now this brings me to my next point. What did you think of the end-of-chapter duel? Was it good, bad? Did the alternating P.O.V style help add anything to the fight or did it make me seem like I had a case of ADHD towards the end of the story? Also, did the chapter feel too long, as this is the longest chapter I have EVER written at 5,734 words long (excluding this A/N) or is this more the kind of length that you guys want to get out of me? And if it was too long, should I split this chapter in two and re-write it or what not? Type it up in the reviews box and tell me what you think! After all I can only get better as a writer if you guys help me out and tell me what needs fixing! _

_Now that I am finished with my A/N, I guess that all I have left to type is, _

_Read,Review, Fave and Follow, and, _

_Of course, _

_Keep it real like a Ninja, _

_CBF. _

_N/B: Still looking for a Beta or Ideas buddy! PM me if you want in on the position! _


	8. Chapter 8: A quest is issued

"Is she supposed to be up an' moving like this?" Percy asked Thalia calmly as the source of the scream earlier was finally discovered.

Sprawled out in the snow was one Selena Beauregard, a daughter of Aphrodite, in front of arguably the damned creepiest sight that Thalia had ever seen in her entire life... and between giants trying to eat her and seeing many monsters that would make some campers faint or others cry in fear, this was one bold statement.

In front of her and the newbie Perseus stood a figure that was already well past the age that would confine a regular body to a chair. The once long brown hair of the woman had been turned into nothing more than a handful of sting like locks of grey hair. Her body was completely shriveled to the point all of her bones could be seen when her flesh poked out through the slowly decaying bandages that seemed to hold the literal walking corpse together. Her face was all but obscured by a mess of bandages except for two eyeless sockets that still seemed to bore straight through a person and into their very soul even after so long.

"Never thought Apollo would let his oracle slip so badly." Perseus mused to himself in ancient Greek. Thalia wanted to ask what the hell he meant by that but she was cut off by several sharp yells and squeaks of fear as the rest of the camp finally managed to catch up to the cousins. Thalia looked around to see the leader of the Hunters barge her way to the front of the crowd and towards the pair with a steely look spread across her face whilst the remaining hunters hung back.

Turning its decaying neck towards Zoe, the oracle took several rigid steps forwards before fixing her cold and dead gaze onto the steadfast hunter before finally opening her mouth, releasing a cold, green, ethereal smoke that even caused her lifeless sockets to slowly flicker to life with a terrifying green light before she finally spoke in a voice that seemed to echo from the darkest corners of everyone's minds...

**_Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,_**

**_One shall be lost in the land without rain,_**

**_The bane of Olympus shows the trail,_**

**_Campers and Hunters combined prevail,_**

**_The Titan's curse must one withstand,_**

**_And one shall perish by a parent's hand._**

"Funus taciturn! Venenosis verbis tuis non obstabit portanswu maledictione mea!" Perseus literally hissed as his sword materialised in his hand, a dark and terrifying aura slowly beginning to creep from his entire form. The oracle turned its head towards him before speaking in its similar voice, "**You would be wise not to alter fate again, child of the shadows..." **the ominous voice hissed back. Percy seemed to tense, his grip slowly tightening around his sword as his eyes visibly narrowed before speaking once again in the curious language, "Ego exprobravi ante ... et sic fata est..." Percy paused briefly before speaking in regular english, "...and unless you depart now I will ask my father to further your wretched existence."

At his words, whatever they were previously and whatever he meant by what he had just said, the Oracle slowly went as rigid as a board before collapsing into the crystal like, pearly white snow. Every eye turned towards Percy and Zoe, the latter because she had just been issued a quest...and the former because he had communicated with the oracle, something previously unheard of.

Slowly, a visibly shaken Chiron cantered to the front of the group of campers and hunters now looking at the pair with their jaws comically open and their eyes like dinner-plates. Shaking his clearly clouded head, Chiron only managed to stutter out several commands.

"Everyone to their cabins...and a councillors meeting in fifteen minutes."

(Twenty minutes later, Percy's P.O.V)

To say that Percy was unimpressed with the assembled, mighty councillors would be the understatement of his entire life when it comes to leaders and what not.

The entire room was practically silent except for the occasional creaking floorboards and Chiron rambling on about how the quest would require both hunters and campers and something or not about the only reason that the hunters would be required would be the logical assumption the goddess in need of a little bit of saving could only be lady Artemis...something that Zoe did not argue over at all, surprising Percy greatly until the most logical solution hit his mind. "She already knew." Percy smiled slightly. The girl had done incredibly well to hold that kind of information to herself and keep it from her sisters. "Must be one skilled liar to pull of the necessary BS to hide that kind of information." He mused to himself as his admiration for the girl actually grew a tiny bit, like with Thalia. Anybody able to lie that well or last longer than six seconds against Percy deserved a little bit of respect from him.

But there was something else about the girl...something he couldn't quite place. She seemed so familiar. Zoe was for all intents and purposes, was an incredibly beautiful girl in the "cold, evil, heartless princess bitch" kind of way. Her figure was slender yet quite clearly of the athletic variety, which Percy personally thought would put any supermodel or any other such kind of woman to shame. Her face was calm and collected and incredibly beautiful, with high cheekbones and a somewhat coppery skin colour which Percy inwardly smiled at. "Just like me when I was normal." He chuckled in the back of his mind before continuing his examination.

Her hair was pulled back into some sort of braided ponytail with another smaller one running from left to right at the from of her hair which Percy could only assume was to keep any excess hair out of her eyes whilst a small silver tiara sat on her head, denoting her rank as Artemis' lieutenant.

And yet with all of these factors taken in...Percy was unable to tell were he had seen the girl before until he finally noticed her eye colour...

Jet black.

That was when it all clicked.

The hair, the skin, the hatred of men. Percy had to mentally laugh slightly at the prospect that his mind was telling him, after all, it was not every day that you ran into someone you knew from your life over two thousand years ago. "Hopefully she doesn't put two and two together concerning me for a little while..." Percy mused to himself before failing to contain another small bought of laughter over his somewhat curious predicament.

Unfortunately he had just inadvertently insulted one very testy son of Poseidon.

"WHO'S THERE!" Alex roared as he scanned his eyes around the room. Percy could only laugh when he saw the amused look on Zoe's face and her friend, Phoebe if Percy remembered correctly. Sighing loudly, Percy let himself drop from the shadowy ceiling and onto the floor below him, much to the surprise and shock of the rest of the campers, whilst Zoe let a small chuckle escape her lips and her friend just glared slightly at Percy, who slowly stood up to his full height, stretching out his back as he did so.

"What the hell are you doing here!" Alex snarled, rising out his chair, with a little aid from the daughter of Athena, Annabeth. "I'm here because even with all of you put together, save for the hunters, you haven't the faintest clue about fighting the opening skirmish of a war." Percy snarled back in a deathly cold voice that caused a lot of people in the room to flinch, especially Alex and the girl, who, after several seconds of looking utterly terrified, managed to speak, "I'm a daughter of Athena! Out of everyone here I'm the most qualified to talk about WAR. And besides we are not..." But finally Percy's patience finally snapped as he took a step forwards as he cut off the younger girl. "No I AM the most qualified to talk about war. I've seen enough people get killed in battle to fill this shitty country and some. And we ARE at war. The Titans have thrown the first stone, and this is our chance to respond in force and set the pace for the rest of the war."

Percy took a deep breath, it had been a LONG time since he had lost his cool in public. The tension was growing quickly but Chiron quickly stepped in to try to defuse the situation, "As that may be, I must ask why, one you are here. And two, why you laughed at Alex's suggestion he go on the quest." Percy looked over to the grizzled old Centaur, who now had his horse half confined to a small wheelchair, before speaking a little. "Well, I was here because I don't trust a bunch of inexperienced kids to go on practically a suicide mission..." Percy quickly paused to quickly steal a glance at Zoe, who paled slightly at his words. "She HAS to be one of them..." was all he could think before continuing "...and my laugh at barnacle beard over there simply happened to coincide with a joke I was running through my head," Percy quickly fixed his gaze on the now red-faced son of Poseidon before continuing, "...but I'm sure I would have found the prospect of such a weak legacy asking to go on such a dangerous quest far more humorous."

At this, Alex went straight to his feet and looked ready to argue but Chiron told him in no uncertain terms to sit down and shut up before turning his attention back to the son of Hades. "So who would you suggest go in his place then?" Chiron asked calmly.

Percy smirked underneath his mask before turning to Zoe. "If she will allow me to accompany her, I would like to offer my services to Miss Nightshade on the quest."

(Zoe's P.O.V)

"YOU? YOU'RE JUST A NEWBIE! I'VE LEAD EVERY MAJOR QUEST SINCE I GOT HERE!" Alex roared as he went bug-eyed before Zoe finally decided to put the boy in his place. "Shut up, boy! We do not need thy help!" She sneered as her life-long and oldest friend Phoebe let out almost an animal like growl as she pulled out one of her many throwing knives. Alex seemed to pale greatly, but before anything else was said, Percy spoke up.

"Well it's clear I've overstayed my welcome. I'll be around should you choose to accept my offer." Percy stated calmly before vanishing in a plethora of screaming and screeching shadows that made the temperature of the entire room drop well below freezing for several seconds. Zoe sent a vicious glare towards one smirking daughter of Athena before the meeting went onto the other members of the quest. But she also knew there was another reason as to why he left the room so quickly... and she was determined to know what it was...

By the end of the meeting it was decided that Thalia, Annabeth (unfortunately, Zoe had to admit she may need a child of Athena at some point) and Diana, one of the Hunter's healers would be the ones to accompany Zoe on the quest as well as Percy should he choose to accept.

Now Zoe was stuck wandering through the accursed camp in her search for the powerful son of Hades. After checking the most obvious places, such as the arena and armoury, Zoe finally resolved on going to the Demeter cabin where Perseus would be staying. Upon reaching the door, Zoe steeled herself slightly, hoping she hadn't offended him by not immediately accepting his offer. Knocking on the door, Zoe was somewhat shocked that it was Percy himself who answered the door.

"Ahhhh Miss Nightshade. I take it this isn't a friendly visit?" Percy asked somewhat sarcastically. Keeping a straight face, Zoe nodded her head before being ushered into the cabin by Percy.

Closing the door behind her, Percy instantly took up a leaning pose against one of the many walls of the cabin. "So I take it your here about my offer from earlier." Percy asked in a cold and monotone voice. Zoe nodded her head again before speaking again, "Yes. I would like to accept your offer," Zoe paused and let herself catch her breath slightly before continuing "...and I would like to know what you know what you meant by 'suicide mission' during the meeting." Percy nodded his head slightly before sending her a somewhat quizzical glance, "I will answer your question, but I must ask one thing." Zoe raised her eyebrow before asking what it was he wanted. "I simply ask that you start using my name. As you have only been calling me 'boy' or 'you'."

"But that means treating him differently! He's still a damned boy!" Zoe's hunter side protested, whilst her logical side was arguing furiously back in her skull, "It's his name! Don't drive away such a great asset just because your too stubborn to call him by name!"

After several seconds, Zoe finally gave him an answer. "Very well, Perseus. Now answer my question." She replied cooly. Percy nodded before speaking "I know we go to face your farther Hesperide, so do not worry. I'll make sure we all go home in one piece." At his words, Zoe's mind literally froze over with shock for several seconds. When she did get back cognitive functions, Zoe could only ask several questions in her head.

"How does he know? Have we met before? Did milady say something?" A million things raced around in Zoe's mind as the rest of her mind unfrozen and turned her mind into a storm of thoughts and emotions, but before she could speak Percy let a small, dry and humorless laugh escape his lips, "Do not worry. Your secret is safe with me Miss Nightshade." He said cooly before clicking his fingers and ordering the cold shadows to envelop Zoe.

At first she felt nothing but soon enough her vision was blacked as she was pulled into the realm of shadows, briefly panicking as she thought Percy was trying to eliminate her for being her fathers daughter. But what she didn't expect was to be calmly pulled through the shadows...

Straight back to cabin eight.

(Thalia's P.O.V)

"We should get a move on Annabeth, we don't wanna be late." Thalia stated calmly as she began steeling her nerves for having to survive an entire quest with Zoe...but that was nothing compared to the calm attitude Annabeth was having trouble finding concerning one very blunt son of Hades.

"Do we really need this jackass to come with us?" Annabeth huffed angrily as she and Thalia continued their treck to the borders of camp. Thalia let out a heavy sigh before she spoke again, "Annabeth, it was Zoe's quest, so as much as it pisses me off, it's also her choice as to who comes with us." Thalia answered diplomatically. After all, despite being rather cold and almost arrogant, Perseus seemed to actual have a human side underneath it all. But clearly said side was still hidden from the daughter of Athena's eyes. "Do we really need an arrogant asshole that bullied Alex AND you coming with us on our quest. Not to mention we have no idea of his loyalties or ties... for all we know he could be a spy for Kronos!" Annabeth spat as her entire body slowly began to shake with utter rage, causing Thalia to sigh slightly, slightly annoyed by her stupid attitude.

"Annabeth, when a highly trained Demigod offers his services in a possible suicide mission that we may all not come back from, you DON'T say no,..." Annabeth went to protest but Thalia cut her off with a murderous gaze before speaking, "...as for loyalty. The fact that he's been vouched for by lady Demeter and willingly follows his fathers orders should be evidence enough that he's loyal to Olympus." Thalia hissed back. Annabeth glared at her childhood friend before voicing her mind again, "Why the hell are YOU defending him? He insulted us ALL back in Maine and then he repeatedly threatened Alex and then made us ALL look stupid when he beat the crap out of you in the arena!" Annabeth screeched, taking a breath to slowly steady herself. Thalia had stopped by this point and was sending her friend another murderous glare. "Alex DESERVED what he got from Perseus! He threatened him then insulted him! And as for making me look stupid, yeah he did. He's not just on a different level when it comes to skill with a blade and spear, he's on another planet." Thalia stated as calmly as she could, despite her Zeus based pride taking a massive blow at admitting her status as second best... but then again there was no denying it and she knew it.

"He was just being kind at the end. He was practically toying with me for the entire fight...and before you even say it, if Alex can barely last ten seconds against me, he wouldn't even last a SECOND against Percy!" Thalia seethed before storming off ahead, leaving one incredibly shocked and confused daughter of Athena in her wake.

(Percy's P.O.V)

Percy leaned against the trashy old van that the camp had agreed to lend them in order to get the quest moving. It was a trashy old thing with slight rust around the wheel rims and the corners of the hood, whilst a faded title that Percy couldn't be bothered to read was etched into the flimsy metal side of the van.

Slowly, Percy began twirling the van keys in his right hand, trying to find a way to calm his surprisingly unsettled nerves. "This is the first time I've worked with ANYONE in just over a hundred years. And what's worse is that they're a bunch of freaking greenhorns! How the hell are we supposed to save a goddess of the hunt if I'm being sent along with two people who hate my guts and two people who may have seen some action... but nothing like this in their stupid little lives." Percy mused to himself as he slowly set his eyes to scan the frozen landscape of Camp Half-blood in the rising light of dawn.

The main body of camp itself was a whole bunch of cabins, each one dedicated to the eleven Olympian council members, situated in a horseshoe shape that resembled their placement on Olympus. Each one seemed to sparkle and shine slightly in the slowly rising rays of a blood-red sun... each ray slowly destroying any vestiges of darkness. The lava and climbing wall was still a decent distance away from everything else, the snow nearby that hadn't melted as much seemed to be almost blood-red... a colour Percy was unfortunately all too familiar and accustomed to.

The forest on either side of camp were nothing more than a desolate wasteland... the frozen trees seemingly sucking any and all life out of the local area, generating a dead and almost terrifying atmosphere that added to the ethereal beauty of the sight...every drop of snow glinting in the morning sun like a pure-white crystal. Percy smiled slightly as he took in the entire sight before him...and realised it was the first time in ages that he had actually done something so...normal as simply taking in the view. After all, he had never really had the time to do something so trivial. Sure he had looked over many a landscapes but...

"This is the first time I've ever done this for." Well why had he done it? Out of curiosity? For the sake of passing the time? "Or because I wanted to?" He asked himself curiously. After all, such things were rather pointless and took away from the opportunity to survey the area for threats or any possible strategic advantage.

"Wait what am I doing? This is a waste of time! I should be assessing the defence potential of this shit-hole!" Percy muttered to himself as he began shaking his head violently, desperate to get such pointless crap out of his mind. "But you need to learn to wind down from time to time! Hunting and training are hardly going to be healthy options for relaxing, especially as I'm stuck here for a few months at least." Percy's other half mused in his mind, causing Percy to shake his head again as his eyes turned from appreciative to cold and calculating again.

Surprisingly, the entire camp was actually one hell of a defensive position. There were tens of easily defensible points as well as hundreds of sniping and ambush points...let alone positions for some less than human friendly traps. "Gotta give who ever designed this place their due. Would take a lot of muscle to even evict thirty of these weaklings from this hell-hole." Percy mused to himself until the faint crunching of snow became audible to his ears.

Trampling their way up the slopes were the remaining members of the quest. Percy narrowed his eyes as he looked between the daughters of Zeus and Athena. They seemed tense. And it wasn't about the mission they were going on if the hateful glances that they kept sending one another were anything to go by. Percy sighed slightly, "Great, we haven't even started the bloody quest yet and these two look ready to break into a cat-fight at any minute."

"Perseus." Zoe stated coldly as she gave Percy a small nod of recognition. Percy returned the gesture before looking between the now assembled group. Taking a deep breath Percy decided to take the seemingly natural pause in activity to speak, "Right, let me get one thing clear. If any of you have any LEGITIMATE grudges among yourselves' then I suggest that you get them out in the open and dealt with before anyone steps foot in this van. Otherwise bury it deep enough until we get back to camp, at which point feel free to tear each-other to shreds." Percy stated calmly. The second hunter, Diana if he remembered correctly, spoke up, "What makes you think you have the right to order us about boy? Zoe is the leader of this quest, not you." She snarled whilst Percy let a small laugh escaped his lips.

"Because with the greatest amount of respect to Miss Nightshade, I don't think she's willing to get into the topic. So I'm bringing it up now. Like you huntress, YOU are just a typical sexist hunter who lets her one or two bad experiences sully their views on men. Women are JUST as guilty as any man of breaking hearts and ruining lives..." Percy slowly turned to face the van before speaking at barely a whisper before he clambered into the van.

"I know that better than anyone."

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**Hey guys, **

** I know, I AM ALIVE! Sorry it's been so damned long. I've been buried under school-work and Rugby commitments (I play to a high level so I have to commit a lot of time to it along with my studies.) **

**Any ways, we are FINALLY GETTING ONTO THE QUEST! Oh you have NO IDEA how good it feels to not have to write original stuff for a little bit and simply spin-off some plot points for a little while. Makes the writing so much easier and takes a lot of pressure and what not off of my mind. **

**Again I would like to invite you all as my lovely readers to review the hell out of this story and tell me what you think, Good, Bad and Ugly. What went well? What went tits up? What should I change and what would you like to see? You can only tell me by reviewing and PM'ing me, so keep it up! Also I would like to give a quick shout out to all of you as we are now at over 250 follows and 200 fave's. Honestly this is truly amazing guys! I never thought I would get this after twenty chapters, let alone seven! So I would LOVE it if you could keep up this amazing support! You are the sole reason this story goes on. If none of you were here then this would simply fade from existence. **

**Also, I would like to let you all know that the Pol is still open so keep voting...but things are getting close to me picking a pairing. Currently leaning towards Zoe... but that is all open to change. SO VOTE. **

**Also, the position of my Ideas buddy and Beta-reader are still open, so please let me know if you would like the position! **

**Peace out, **

**Read, Review, Fave and follow, and, **

**Of course, **

**Keep it real like a Ninja, **

**CBF **


	9. Chapter 9: Gettin' the quest movin' !

The drive to washington was, for Percy at least, a lot worse than the ride to camp halfblood.

Percy had made it rather clear from the beginning that he would rather be the one doing all of the driving unless he started to feel tired and needed to swap out with someone else who was competent at driving. Naturally, the hunter Diana had raised hell about his statement and made several male hating points and jabs at Percy before Zoe had managed to calm her down enough. Once that Herculean task was completed, Percy and Zoe had a somewhat "civilised" discussion (well, about as civilised as a conversation could be between a hunter and a male...), during which Percy agreed to an alternating driving scheme so that the load was split between themselves, much to the younger hunters annoyance.

For the first few minutes, everything was awkwardly silent. Annabeth and Thalia kept exchanging murderous glances towards one another with a cold, calculating air seemingly filling the cramped vans interior whilst Diana seemed to be formulating some sort of plan in her mind... which soon came into action about ten deathly silent minutes later.

From there on out the ride to the capital had been nothing but continuous insults and jabs directed towards Percy from the huntress, which Percy either ignored or simply replied to in the exact opposite manner that Diana had hoped for. It was irritating the hell out of the pair of them. Diana as she couldn't get a rise out of the cryptic son of Hades and it was about as equally annoying for Percy as the little girls ignorance and down-right stupid points and comments were just beginning to annoy the ancient warrior a little bit. "Gods I miss the violent movements of Apollo's bus and that Grace girls driving." Percy muttered to himself in the back of his mind as he looked out of his window as the small van they had been lent by camp came to a halt at possibly the sixty millionth set of traffic lights today. Letting out another small sigh, Percy took the chance to quickly analyse the environment.

Just like Maine, the city of Washington D.C was now under a pure white blanket of snow that the mortals were desperately trying to combat. Tens of state employed workers were skidding about on the icy pavements as they continued to try to lay enough salt down to dissolve the hidden ice and make it safer for people to walk on. "That's gonna be useful if we need to high-tail it outta' here at any point..." Percy mused to himself as his eyes slowly glanced over the frozen apartment complex opposite them. The walls were made of a sickly grey stone that looked something like the rocks found in Percy's fathers realm, with pillars running up either side of the main doorway, melting into the main complex at the back, indicating the pure aesthetic nature of the pillars to Percy instantly.

Each and every window seemed to be covered in an impenetrable layer of ice that sparkled and glinted like diamond in the afternoon sunlight. Percy smirked slightly as he did a quick count up of any and all possible ambush points and scenarios in his mind until he settled with a sufficient figure. "Fourteen avenues of attack on us here...I don't like it. We're fricking sitting ducks." Percy hissed quietly to himself, letting the words roll off of his tounge and into the small confined interior of the van like the whispers of a ghost.

Naturally, Diana, being the annoying little brat she was, picked up on Percy's musing and decided to speak. "What was that you were muttering boy? Want to go home already?" She sneered whilst struggling to hold back her snickering. Percy let out another sigh before he treated the arrogant little girl to a rare response. "I said were fucking sitting ducks. There's fourteen points of attack on this side of the street alone... not that you would be perceptive enough to notice such things considering how much time you spend thinking of childish ways to rattle me." Percy paused briefly to let his ice-cold, sea-green eyes settle on the young huntress before narrowing theme and speaking again, "Your wasting your time. I do not bite to small-minded idiotic jabs about me or my gender. Unlike you, I have matured enough to face my past and deal with my insecurities and issues, not to have to resort to attacking others so I don't have to face my own problems." When Percy finished, the entire van went silent for a minute, everyone's gaze resting on Percy.

Annabeth gave him a somewhat confused and slightly respectful look. Thalia had a small smirk spreading across his face like he'd done the best thing ever and she was simply waiting to tell him. Diana, naturally, looked utterly shocked that a boy would answer back a member of Artemis's pathetic little troupe...and then there was Zoe.

Well, Percy could never fully read Zoe. Part of the way her eyebrow twitched showed that she wanted to bitch-slap Percy upside the head for speaking to her fellow huntress in such a manner before filling his arse full of arrows and asking her ladyship to turn him into some sort of small animal when she broke her free. But then her ink-black eyes showed some sort of respect and surprise at Percy's response, like she wanted to hug him and tell him that was the one thing that really needed to be said... like he was right. But the rest of her face remained the same as it always did. Neutral, calm, collected. Zoe really was good at hiding her emotions and feelings about people and situations.

But then there was something else in those volcanic-black eyes... a look of confusion and some sort of struggle...like she was trying to pin something on Percy in her mind, but nothing was quite sticking to the slippery son of Hades.

But that was just Percy's interpretation of the lieutenant of the hunters...

"After all, what man knows what goes on in a womans head?"

(Zoe's P.O.V)

Zoe smiled mentally when Percy had finished his little rant at Diana.

The younger hunter had an irritating tendency to cause trouble with males whenever possible, even if it was completely unnecessary at the time. She just seemed to enjoy causing trouble and hurting men for it all. "She needed that. She's been nothing but a gigantic pain in the arse for us all so far... it'll be nice to have some peace and quiet for a little while." Zoe mused to herself as the traffic lights turned green and she swiftly (well...as swiftly as one could in a rusty, old, decrepid bus.) pulled away and into the afternoon, downtown traffic of D.C.

After several more minutes of awkward silence and terrible male drivers (Again, terrible by Zoe's standards...), Zoe finally made the executive decision to find somewhere to pull up and grab some lunch and plan the next step of their journey. All except Diana seemed keen on the idea.

"Why does HE have to eat with us? I bet he's never used a knife and fork before." Diana jabbed as the group dismounted the bus and let their skin be greeted by the cold, winter air that had settled in over the past month or so. Zoe gasped slightly from the bitter cold as she pulled her jacket up slightly to shield herself from the freezing cold air. "Does anyone know of somewhere where we can grab some food?" Thalia asked absent mindedly as she pulled her black, raggedy hood over her head, making her look more like a damned girl sized raven. Zoe rolled her eyes, but before she could tell her what a stupid question that was, the last person Zoe expected to speak up offered their advice.

"There's a diner five blocks from here if my memory serves me right." Percy voiced out loud. Everyone flipped their gaze to the enigmatic son of Hades, looks of "are you serious?" plastered all over their faces, even Zoe's. "I conduct business for my father here every so often and so I've memorised where most inconspicuous diners and what not are." Percy stated solemnly before turning around on the heels of his black combat boots and marching away from the small group, further into town.

"Where are you going?" Thalia shouted as the group watched the distant son of Hades near the corner of the street. "Scouting. Meet me in the aerospace museum in about an hour. I'll find you if I find out anything interesting." He replied calmly before disappearing around the corner, and thus from the group's sight. "He has a point. It makes sense to get a little bit of scouting done and possibly pick up on some leads I suppose..." Zoe stated plainly as she slowly set off in the same direction as Perseus.

"Where are you going Zoe?" Diana shouted after her lieutenant with a little panick in her voice.

Zoe smiled underneath the hood of her parka jacket before responding to the younger, and somewhat flabbergasted member of Artemis' hunt.

"We're not going to reach the diner that Perseus spoke of if we just stand here, are we now Diana?"

(Forty-five minutes later.)

"Okay...perhaps the boy does know something about restaurants and where to get good food." Diana grumbled as she sat there drinking her coffee. And for the first time on the trip, Zoe found herself agreeing with her junior huntress. "It is very good. I must agree I thought he was sending us to some trashy little place, but I must say this place is rather quaint." Zoe stated calmly as she glanced around the typical fifties "roadside" looking diner. Simple fixed, red padded stools lined the main table area that was made of either stainless steel or aluminium. Around said main table were the individual booths that one would expect to find when entering a diner along route sixty-six or other such iconic American routes.

"For once I agree with you Zoe. The newbie may not look like it but he's sure got good taste when it comes to food." Thalia voiced as she took another bite out of the burger she had been attacking for the past few minutes. Zoe almost allowed herself to smile at the girls words, after all, herself and Thalia agreeing was almost unheard of on the one or two occasions they had met, but she quickly caught herself as she glanced around the small establishment, looking for any sort of clock to acquire the time from.

After about ten seconds of searching, the lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis finally managed to procure the time from the clock above the serving station hole, hanging precariously from a single, rusted, iron hook. "It's three forty five, we should hurry up and pay. I don't want to give Perseus the satisfaction of us being late." Zoe stated calmly as she pulled herself from the somewhat cramped booth. Annabeth gave a small scoff as she followed out after the older girl.

"Please, Zoe, I highly doubt that he's found anything useful out from his little scouting mission."

(Percy's P.O.V, Ten Minutes Previous)

Like any demigod, Percy accepted that fate did exist for some demigods and that they were bound to follow it out to the bitter end. But finding two dracaena and demigods walking about in broad daylight, talking about the very Goddess he was trying to save seemed almost too convenient.

But then again, Percy was never one to pass up on a golden opportunity to dig for some information, and so he had naturally followed the curious group from a distance for about five minutes until they finally stopped outside arguably the oddest building of choice in the entire area. The Natural history museum. "I don't think that a group of demigods and dracaena are simply going to have a little saunter about here for a particularly random reason." Percy mused to himself as he allowed the group to enter the building before he quickly made his way up to the main doors of the prestigious building, only to be greeted by an even more curious sign.

CLOSED FOR PRIVATE EVENT.

"Last time I checked, this was a state-run facility...so why the hell would they close the damned thing for a small group of people?" Percy mused to himself as he quickly looked behind himself to check for anybody who might be following him. Fortunately, the massive crowd outside the building seemed far more interested in a bunch of half-decent christmas carrolers as to Percy's little breaking and entering escaped. Smiling slightly underneath his mask, Percy quickly took ahold of the door handle and slipped inside the open door.

The room Percy had walked into was the main entrance to the Natural History museum. Stood in the centre of the huge lobby stood a tall and proud T-Rex skeleton, Arms raised and head snaking forwards like a serpent looking for the killer strike. "Where the hell have I seen that before?" Percy mused to himself as he quickly finished his preliminary glance around the room. Several cases were arranged into a perfect line on either side of the T-Rex, whilst several other smaller, extinct animals, were spread around the huge room, the arching ceiling stretching some twelve metres up into the air.

Percy quickly focused his eyesight to the back of the main room, where a massive set of double doors resided, their oak bulk well aged and masterfully crafted. Stood either side of said door were two very bored looking human mercenaries.

Immediately, Percy's cold and calculating combat mode took ahold as he quickly began analysing the situation. "_Seven metres of open ground to the guard on the right and nine to the one on the left. Both armed with G36C's. Average reaction time, 0.4 seconds. Chance of making across the ground without attracting attention. Zero." _Percy almost let out a small growl as, once again, the indirect approach was the only way to move on. "_Left route offers more cover. Just got to time my movements and I'll make it...only shadows in this damned room are next to those two." _Percy let out a small sigh before he reached underneath his jackets sleeve.

Slowly, his hand found its way onto a very familiar grip. Percy smiled almost sadistically as he quickly took ahold of the grip and silently un-sheathed the ancient weapon. The blade itself still looked as new as the day Percy received it, with a simple, double-edged, Stygian iron and bronze alloy, with a slight groove down the centre to allow easy removal of blood. The grip was made of simple leather straps, wrapped around an iron main body that had never once broken on Percy. "Suppose I'm gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way...I guess it's fair..." Percy's gaze narrowed as he began moving silently along the left flank of the museum,"... they are only mortals after all."

The transition up to the last of the wooden bottomed cases was seemless, with Percy employing two thousand years of sneaking expertise to close the distance between himself and the two guards in less than half a minute. Taking a quick peek around the corner of the case, Percy steeled his nerves as his heart hardened once more in his long life...

And he moved in for the kill.

Percy's sprint to the first guard was practically silent, making the son of Hades look more like a silent shadow as opposed to a living, breathing human being with one dirty conscious. The two clueless mortals were wearing basic military garb, including a standard helmet, gas mask, ballistic vest and combat trousers and boots, each piece as nightmare black as Percy's own kit. Switching his dagger into a reverse grip, Percy slammed the lethal blade into the gut of the closest guard with merciless accuracy and speed, digging the blade deep into the poor mans gut. The guard let out a pained gasp, and would've gone further, but Percy had other ideas.

As fast as lightning, Percy used his free hand to force the man to double, wrapping the arm around his neck, locking it in a vice like grip whilst withdrawing his ancient and now blood smeared blade. The second guard was now slowly reacting and going to turn and raise his rifle to fire... Percy revered his grip this time on his blade once again in mere milliseconds, with his fingers now positioned on the tip of the blade before hurling the knife with a level of precision that any Hunter of Artemis would envy. The blade flew silently before digging straight through the left eye socket of the second guard, the blade burying right up to the hilt as a slight, blood filled gargle emanated from the second guard as he crashed to the floor, a dull thud the only indicator of the poor mortals passing from the world.

Percy smiled at his handiwork before violently jerking his left arm, causing a sickening, branch like crack to emanate from the first guard as his neck snapped like a twig before his now lifeless and limp body to slip to the floor. Immediately, Percy unhooked the G36C around the guards neck as he pilfered through the guards pockets for additional ammo and anything else that might be useful. Once his checking of the corpse was complete, Percy repeated the process with the second corpse, collecting his knife along the way.

The moment he had finished, Percy immediately checked his newly acquired weapon over, checking the firing chamber and other such little pieces, ensuring his newly acquired piece would be in good enough condition to fire. "Seems mint..." Percy mused to himself as he noticed the complete lack of wear and tear on the weapon one would expect from experience mercenaries. "Must've been greenhorns." Percy concluded, somewhat glumly.

After all, there are only so many innocent and green idiots you can kill without breaking.

Letting out a small sigh, Percy placed his head up against the door of the room opposite and focused all his attention into simply hearing what the hell was going oo the other side of the door.

"Incompetent mortals. This is why I don't use them. They're unreliable." Snarled a rather youngish male voice from the opposite side of the thick oak. Percy cocked an eyebrow as to what the idiots had done, but his attention was quickly stolen by another voice, this one far more menacing and threatening sounding as it replied to the first, "They're weak-willed, easily bought and extremely violent. I love them." The moment Percy heard the second voice, only one thing sprang to mind, "Well that's a Titan if I ever heard one." Percy snarled to himself as the only possible Titan that he could think of sprang to mind. "At least they'll have their reunion soon I suppose."

"What's so significant about these damned teeth anyways?" The first voiced asked rather agitatedly, clearly not seeing the point of what he and is Titan friend were doing.

At that point, a loud, booming and almost mocking laugh wormed it's way through the door and to Percy's ears, the deep and rich sound practically SCREAMING "I'm a Titan!". The laughing continued for several more seconds until the first voice finally got it's reply, "Because my dear boy, these mere mortals have no idea when they have something so valuable in their possession... especially the teeth of the Drakon of the spring of Ismene." At those very words, Percy froze.

"Oh shit...I am so not that unlucky. We haven't even MET any of these assholes, so how the HELL can they hope to use them against us?" Percy mused to himself as he quickly glanced back towards the main hall, checking for any movement. When he was satisfied with his surveillance, Percy quickly returned his ear to the door. A loud THUD and the sound of marble creaking and cracking underneath what Percy could only assume was the frame of one Titan in particular. Percy had to steady himself so that he didn't fall immediately onto his arse and away from the door.

A loud grunt of pain and annoyance resonated from the opposite room, bringing Percy's slowly wandering focus back to the conversation on the opposite side of the door. "Are you alright general? Do you need another hot pad?" A third, very timid voice asked, only to be verbally crushed as "The General" responded in his commanding voice, "No! It will pass!". Several loud thuds indicated the movement of "The General" until he finally came to a halt.

For several moments everything was silent. Percy tensed. Why had nothing happened? What the hell was going on? The deathly silence continued for several more moments until an earthquake like tremor broke out, forcing Percy to once again steady his balance and shift his focus to staying upright. Several terrified yells emanated from the room until the movement had finally stopped and "The General" decided to speak once again. "Quickly, give them the scent!" He ordered to someone.

A small, maniacal laugh broke out from within the room, slowly growing louder and louder with every passing second until it was all Percy could hear. A rich, loud and almost insane laugh that sent shivers down Percy's spine for the first time in a very, long, long time. "Now all my daughter can hope to do is run towards her former prison and try to save that pathetic excuse of a Goddess from her prison...and I doubt she'll make it that far with these boys hot on her trail!"

"Oh shit..." Was all Percy could muse until the General spoke up again.

"But first, I think we should greet her little friend in the other room now...after all..." Percy gulped slightly as the thuding and earth tremors resumed and the sound of weapons cocking and priming sounded until the voice was on the opposite side of the door and spoke up again...

"It's rude to keep guests waiting."

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**Hey guys, **

** Yeah I am alive, thanks for asking peeps! I've been once again bombarded with school work and Rugby commitments so I have had little time to really read at all on this site despite knowing some of my favourite stories are updated, let alone write anything of my own, so for that I apologise. **

**This is also my shortest effort to date for the story. unfortunately this is the way it must be in terms of flow and what not, otherwise everything will become a wee bit dis-jointed. But hopefully this was still fun and interesting and will sait your appetite as I ready myself to write the next chapter on saturday morning for hopefully a late night upload if your from the UK. The reason for that? **

**I got myself a BETA PEOPLE! Thank you SOOOOOO much to **_iFicti0n_**. You have filled a void that needed filling and I thank you like a crazy person for that. Sorry you couldn't Beta this one. I made an executive decision to get this done and you did complain about your workload of late so I thought I would ahhhhh... "alleviate" the stress of Beta-ing my work for one more chapter :P **

**Any ways, as always, please, please, please review the hell out of the chapter. I like my feedback. It give me something to aim and strive for in the next update! So let's keep it up on that front as well as the Fave's and Follows front. Honestly it's amazing in terms of the support you've given me guys! So keep it up and review like mad. This story is continuing only because you AWESOME people still want to see my story unfold! **

**So with that out-of-the-way, all I will say to you is: Read, Review, Fave and follow, and, **

**Of course, **

**Keep it real like a Ninja, **

**CBF. **

**N/B: **_Listen to the song Juliet by Lawson, especially the nightcore remix, it's awesome! _


	10. Chapter 10: Hades of a first day!

"SHIT!" Was all Percy could yell as he dived to the right hand side of the door and behind a small stone pillar as all hell literally erupted all around him.

The heavy, ancient, and well-made wooden door that had stood strong for decades previously, was torn to utter shreds in milliseconds as countless bullets ripped through the door, sending hundreds of splinters of wood flying everywhere as the strong wood gave way to mankind's destructive technology. The firing continued for some six or seven seconds after it had started, bullets continuing on their destructive path as they smashed through the thick glass cases covering the majority of the exhibits.

The once strong glass was turned into mere reflective shrapnel as it slowly began to tear itself through the surrounding exhibits. 'FUCK! HOW MANY OF THESE GUYS ARE THERE!' Percy screamed to himself in his mind as he continued to look around for some sort way out of his slowly diminishing cover. Fortunately, it came after several more seconds of merciless and unending gunfire. Unfortunately it was in the form of one very angry Titans voice.

"GET IN THERE AND MAKE SURE HE'S DEAD!" The General roared as the muffled sound of acknowledgements spread out amongst the men he had positioned on the other side of the door. Percy bit back a string of curse words as he took a peak out from his cover to the now practically shredded door. He could hear several heavy and ill intent filled steps making their way towards the door.

'Okay, they'll probably send out six or five guys to have a look around. If I'm fast enough I'll be able to cut the suckers down when they perform their main sweep of the room and buy myself the time I'll need to be able to get back to the others... From there on out someone else can handle the planning...' Percy paused his though train momentarily as he slowly pulled the slide black on his nightmare black machine gun before sighing slightly to himself, '...I'm getting too old for all of this.'

A loud crash resounded throughout the entire room as the destroyed doors flew inwards, smashing through several different exhibits before slowly grinding to an ear wrenching, screeching stop. After several seconds, a group of mortal soldiers flooded into the room, followed by the last thing Percy could've done with seeing.

A giant figure followed the soldier through the door, standing at an imposing seven foot and wearing a stupidly tight suit, a typical Cyclops lumbered through with each of his steps causing Percy to shake slightly as the behemoth of a monster kept on moving. 'Well that complicates things...' Percy mused to himself before he felt his mind slowly slip back into it's pure combat, serious mode.

'Spacing between the mortals is about three metres. Time to move point of fire between targets, 0.476 second. Total time to take all targets down... 5.3 seconds minimum. Only problem to take out is the Cyclops. Need to use celestial bronze or other metals to eliminate the lardass.' Percy steeled his nerves and tightened his grip around the weapon sat in his hands as the group of mortals slowly spread out and began to move forwards. Percy took a deep breath and tensed his entire body as he felt his nerves dissipate... flowing into the air as he allowed a near silent breath to escape him.

Before he opened fire.

Percy swung himself out of the cover and onto his feet, raising his rifle up to rest comfortably in his shoulder before he trained his sights on the nearest mortal, a short and stocky looking man wearing the same garb as the two guards Percy had killed...but there was one thing that was slunk underneath his weapon that made killing him all the more important.

A grenade launcher.

Upon spotting the prized piece of military hardware, Percy wasted no time in unleashing a small burst of controlled fire from his rifle; the loud crack, crack, crack boring into his ears like mad, just like the bullets bored into their target, ripping their way through soft flesh and organs, causing a spurt of blood like a park fountain to pour from the wounds as the rounds slammed home with brutal efficiency, each one sapping the poor man's life from his frail body until he finally began to crash to the floor.

Immediately, Percy dived forwards and, with the strength equal to many monsters, ripped the man's weapon from his chest like taking candy from a baby. Continuing his forward dive, Percy broke himself into a perfect forward role and as he rose out of the role he kept moving like he hadn't even broken a step. Levelling his weapon at three more mortals, Percy unleashed a storm of bullets towards the somewhat tightly packed mercenaries, tearing their bodies to shreds as the rounds ripped through them with a murderous intent. The only indication of the mortals passing was the slight jerking of their bodies and the dull, insignificant thuds of the broken bodies crashing to the ground.

'This is almost insulting, I know I'm fast but this is just frickin' insulting!' Percy growled to himself in the back of his mind as he looked towards his remaining targets with a merciless gaze. Raising his rifle, Percy didn't even give his enemies the time to register his presence as he unloaded what was left in his gun to their frail mortal frames, letting them crash to the floor like rag dolls as their life slowly left their limbs and their souls began the journey to his father's realm.

Percy paused for a second as he admired his own handiwork briefly, until he slipped his hand back to his ancient dagger as the sound of loud footsteps grew closer and closer. After a couple more tense moments, Percy launched arguably his favourite blade at the approaching Cyclops. Said monster only had a split second to widen it's one, ugly eye until it dissolved into nothing more than a fine golden dust as the blade ricocheted off of the monsters dense bones, sending it straight back into his waiting grip.

Percy let a small smile creep across his face as he slid the blade home...

"That was to ea..." However he was cut short by what he saw following behind his previous kills. Percy let a small bead of sweat roll down his forehead as one single thought raced through his mind as he quickly turned around and sprinted like a mad-man for the door.

'The others can NOT be having a crappier time than me!'

(Thalia's P.O.V, five minutes later)

'There is NO WAY that Perseus is having a crappier time than we are right now!' Thalia growled to herself as she slowly picked herself up from the cold marble floor of the aerospace museum, her body aching like hell and her legs feeling slightly weak as she managed to steady herself using her spear to support her body... which was to be expected given who the group was actually fighting against.

Stood in front of her was an absolutely massive monster, at least the size of an average garbage truck. It stood on all fours and was wrapped in a massive mound of golden fur that shimmered and glinted in the slowly fading lights of the museum. The monster slowly turned around to face Thalia head on, the lion's massive head surrounded by a massive mane made of long, flowing gold and brown hair. The beast roared, a loud baritone that forced Thalia to hold onto her teeth until it finally decided to stop roaring. Thalia grimaced slightly as the lion began stalking towards her and she slowly stumbled back on her slowly weakening legs.

"Of all the beast we had to run in to... it would HAVE to be the gods damned Neman lion!" Thalia growled to herself as she reflected on how the damned animal had managed to catch her...

The group had been standing around the Aerospace museum, with Annabeth going "full geek" around all of the technology on display; despite Athena's golden girl knowing everything and anything to do with the history of flight. Zoë and Diana were equally fascinated by the surrounding technology and had been mesmerized by the Apollo landers, no doubt looking to find out who built and manned the damned pod, just so they could cut them into tiny little pieces for daring to step foot on their ladyships sacred astral body. Thalia herself had been somewhat un-keen to look at anything in detail given her slight fear of heights. Fortunately their little outing had been interrupted by a little girl shouting to her parents "Look mummy, a kitty!"

Again, that had been the almost scripted interruption Thalia had been looking for. Unfortunately, that been the queue for the gods damned Neman lion to appear and cause their first bit of trouble for the quest.

From there on out the whole room had descended into utter panic. Tens of families were screeching and running for cover or the nearest possible exit with Thalia, Zoë and Diana marshaled people out of the way whilst Annabeth managed to somehow keep the lion off of their backs long enough to ensure that they had as open a space to work with. From there on out, it had been back and forth combat as the group of hunters and campers barely managed to keep the beast from killing any member of their group...but there was still no sign of Percy.

Eventually, Thalia managed to score a shot that was close to a vulnerable spot of the lion's body, causing it to get a little bit more than slightly aggravated. The lion then lashed out, and by a stroke of pure luck, had managed to catch her a few moments ago with a wild, massive paw to the torso...landing Thalia in the world of hurt she was in right now.

She tried to take another step backwards, but fell onto her back as a shooting pain passed through her right leg, causing her to let out a small yelp of pain as she crashed to the floor once again.

"THALIA!" Annabeth screamed as she tried to make her way over to her fallen friend, but both she and Thalia knew she wasn't going to be able to do anything in time to save her. The lion quickly began to close the distance between the pair as it broke into a light saunter. 'Great. I get out of a frickin' tree only to get eaten by the gods damned Neman lion a few months later...what kindda luck do I have?' Thalia pondered in her mind as the great beast came to a rest a few feet away from her.

'Damn it all! Annabeth...I'm so sorry...I just hope that you come to realise the issue with Alex soon...' Thalia prayed as she closed her eyes as the Neman lion roared once again, rearing up onto its hind legs, intending to stomp the daughter of Zeus out of existence.

The next thing Thalia felt was a massive force sending her spiralling backwards at such fast speeds Thalia almost felt like she was back in Apollo's bus whilst an ear shattering, earth wrenching BOOM screeched into her ears, leaving a humongous ringing and a tiny bit of blood slowly flowing from her right ear. The ringing and pain was almost unbearable as she continued to hold her body in a brace position for several more seconds until, finally, after what seemed like an age, Thalia opened her eyes.

At first she could see nothing due to the huge amount of dust swirling like a vortex around the room, with bits and pieces stinging her face as they slammed home. Thalia bit back several curses as she stumbled around in the dust storm. 'What the hell was that?' Thalia shouted in her mind over the painful ringing in her ears, which eventually, after what seemed like several minutes, the ringing subsided and Thalia could hear the cries of everyone else screaming her name. "I'M OVER HERE!" Thalia yelled through the dust cloud. After several moments, Thalia found herself in a bone crushing hug that made her body scream out in protest over the absolute pain she was in, but she let it slide given the relief that it was clearly shown in Annabeth's grime covered face.

"I thought you were dead Thals," Annabeth murmured to Thalia as tears slowly began to make their way down both their faces. Thalia let out a small, humourless laugh before she began speaking.

"So did I Annabeth...so did I..." Thalia mumbled as Zoë and Diana made their way through the dust and smoke to the pair.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Diana screamed as she neared the pair, a murderous look in her eyes. Thalia broke out of the hug as she sent the younger huntress a death glare.

"How the hell should I know?" Thalia snarled at the huntress, returning her glare with equal intensity in her own. After several tense, silent seconds, Zoë spoke up.

"I hate to interrupt, but we still have an..." But she never finished her statement as an all too familiar view came to light.

As the smoke finally dissipated, Percy stood with the Lions pelt wrapped around his waist and a vicious looking machine gun resting over his shoulders whilst an absolutely MASSIVE pile of golden dust rested at his feet. Everyone looked on at the sight with looks of utter disbelief, with Thalia being no exception at all to the rest of the group. 'What the? How the hell is that possible? Where the hell did he get...' But her train of thought was cut short as the son of Hades spoke up, "Honestly, I leave you lot alone for a fucking hour and what happens? You fucking run into the gods damned Neman- frickin'- lion and almost get Grace over there killed! What the hell?" Percy growled out as he made his way over to the group, a look in his eyes that was a mixture of anger, annoyance and...something else...something that Thalia could not quite pin-point. "It couldn't be...could it?" Thalia thought to herself...after all.

When did the son of Hades ever show concern?

(Zoë's P.O.V)

Perseus had just waltzed into the middle of the museum and killed the gods damned NEMAN LION for Hades sake! No one since HIM had been able to beat the creature. Zoe shook her head as a small smile threatened to make its way onto her lips at how easy he made it look... unfortunately, one daughter of Athena did not seem all that pleased to see him.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT YOU CRAZY BASTARD?" Annabeth screeched, almost causing Zoë to grip her ears to try and shield them from the very angry daughter of Athena.

Perseus seemed to get a little mirth in his eyes when he was asked this question, like you would expect to get when you meet a child of Hermes or even some children of Apollo. Even his voice seemed to contain the slightest hint of happiness as he spoke, "That would be the lovely grenade launcher I picked up from my mortal friends at the museum..." At those words Zoë felt her jaw subconsciously drop as it seemed to occur for everyone else. But when he spoke next, that momentary mirth and happiness left and a cold, calculating air took command once again. "But we need to leave now." With that Perseus turned on his heel and made his way towards the back exit of the room.

Zoë stared at the boy for a little while before she finally managed to regain enough control over her senses to be able to speak to Perseus, "What did you see at the museum?" Zoë shouted after Perseus as he made his way towards the emergency exit. Without even breaking his stride Perseus provided her with the last possible answer that she could have ever wanted to hear. "The General is here in D.C. along with gods know how many mortal soldiers. So I suggest we get the fuck out of dodge before we get torn to shreds." Percy growled as he kept on moving.

At his words, Zoe froze in her spot. 'He can't be here. HE CAN'T BE HERE!' Zoe screamed to herself in her head. It wasn't possible, after all, he was stuck at his father's home and that there is NO WAY he could have POSSIBLY escaped!

"You lie! The General cannot possibly be here!" Zoe yelled as she chased after him. At those words, Perseus turned around and bore into her own murderous gaze, making her feel very small indeed. He kept her gaze for several more seconds before speaking.

"I highly doubt that any sort of Iris message or other such things would CRACK a very strong marble floor or produce a bunch of Sparti!" Perseus growled out in response, causing Zoë to pale considerably. If the General was here and had raised a bunch of Sparti...

They had to get the hell out of dodge and get out now.

After several moments, Zoë finally nodded towards the door and her agreement with Perseus' earlier statement. Perseus nodded his head in thanks with Diana racing after the pair whilst Annabeth helped Thalia get moving. Percy quickly made his way up towards the door before stopping about five metres short. When Zoë went to ask why he had stopped, a massive rattle and crack resounded throughout the room as Percy unloaded his machine gun into the double metal doors like a mad man. When he had finished, Zoë raced up towards him with blood roaring into her ears as she looked to beat the Hades out of the crazy kid. But before she could ask any questions, Perseus smashed the door down to reveal a slightly sickening sight.

Four mortals, mercenaries, Zoë guessed, lay on the opposite side of the door. Each one was a bloody mess, riddled with bullets, and the red, precious liquid, flowing freely from their wounds. Perseus quickly changed the magazine in his weapon before unloading a further four bullets, one into each man's head. Turning back to a now shocked Zoë, Perseus spoke in a cold monotone, "Get back there and help the daughter of Zeus. We need to get to the train yards. It's the only place we can hope to lose these guys in for a little while." Zoë looked at him with slight fear and worry, wondering how he did what he just did with such damned ease. Perseus caught he gawping before motioning her to get a move on and for Diana to follow him

Said huntress looked to her commander with slight worry, but received only the "go-ahead" nod, much to her dismay whilst Zoë sprinted back to one struggling daughter of Zeus and a concerned daughter of Athena.

Annabeth had a shocked look on her face whilst Thalia just smiled weakly as Zoë quickly took Thalia's right arm over her own. Zoë smirked back to the younger girl before she spoke, "Don't worry, we may not be friends but I swear I will get you home back safely, so help me gods!" At her words Annabeth's eyes widened before her lips formed a small smile whilst Thalia let her own smile grow a little bit.

"Thank you Zoë..." She muttered weakly before letting unconsciousness claim her mind. Annabeth, naturally had a look of worry pass over her face that seemed like it was about to take full command of her mind, but Zoë did what she could to ease the young girls mind.

"Don't worry Annabeth. This is just her body's way of preserving its own strength. She'll be fine!" Zoë said in an effort to comfort the panicking daughter of Athena and thankfully, her words seemed to have done their job perfectly as the girl relaxed and just kept her mind focused on the gargantuan task of keeping up with one son of Hades...whilst only one thought stayed in Zoë's head the entire time.

'I hope you know what the hell you're doing Perseus...'

(Ten minutes later, Percy's P.O.V)

"MOVE IT SPAWN OF ATHENA!" Percy yelled as Annabeth raced between two of the countless train carts, all the time providing a withering volley of brass bullets towards the slowly advancing group of mercenaries.

The group had managed to lose the damned mercenaries for a few minutes in the damned train yard on the outskirts of town after stealing several cars in the attempts to lose the trail of the soldiers following them. The only trouble was that, despite their earlier failures, these guys were still pretty decent soldiers...and soldiers that were certainly not going to let a group of kids escape them a third time. 'Foolish mortals... if only they knew who they were really dealing with,' Percy growled to himself as he continued to pour fire down the narrow gap at a steady pace.

"We're going to get boxed in if we don't move soon!" Zoe yelled over the cacophony of gunfire to Percy who nodded his head glumly...that was until their one little ray of sunshine poured through the dark railway yard.

Around forty metres away to their right was a train with the words SUNWEST RAILS plastered all over the side of the vehicle. Percy smiled slightly as he saw their ticket to get the hell outta there, before they were dragged before one very angry Titan. A sight that Percy could do without seeing for at least another day or two. Letting out a heavy sigh, Percy quickly shouted out his plan of action to the other three standing members of the quest. "In ten seconds, Diana and Zoe will carry Thalia, whilst Annabeth scouts out ahead, and I provide you with covering fire, got it?" Percy barked as the other three members of the quest just nodded their heads. They knew that there was NO time for arguing at all.

Percy steadied his breathing as he began counting down out loud to the others, his hands slamming home his last magazine for his assault rifle...

"3, 2, 1," At the end of his countdown, Percy leapt from his rail cart cover and began sending rounds down range whilst the four girls began their sprint for the soon departing train.

Percy grit his teeth as he continued to lay down fire until the rattling of his gun gained his attention as the last bullet spluttered out and into another mercenaries chest. Percy bit back a torrent of cuss words as he quickly turned on his heels to see the four girls inside the carriage he had pointed to, ushering him on with their hands.

Percy took a deep breath before he set off at an almost impossibly fast sprint...but curiously time seemed to slow down.

Bullets travelled within inches of Percy, sometimes even millimetres. He could hear the almost muffled sounds of the mercenaries' ruthless gunfire as they attempted to gun him down as he barrelled towards the train as the vehicle slowly began to move. Percy grit his teeth and sent his body into overdrive as he increased his speed even further as he basically teleported over the remaining fifteen metres with bullets hot on his tail.

Percy tensed the muscles in his legs as he used his momentum to launch into a forwards leap into the rapidly closing door of the train cart.

Percy let himself slowly sink to the floor as his breath came in deep, ragged gasps as he lay his head against the tram door before letting a small laugh escape his lips before speaking...

"So...much...for an easy...first day."

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**Hello everybody,**

**Well I'm back and this time I'm not late! YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY! Oh I could cry about how happy I am right now. Feels great to bump out chapter number TEN! Yup it's the BIG TEN everybody! I cannot believe that we are actually here! I mean, the amount of support I have gotten from you guys in the past few weeks has been incredible. 347 follows, 297 favourites and 160 reviews.**

**Honestly people, this is incredible. I never thought I would get this kind of support for my first PJO story. But now that I see so many of you constantly coming back to read, review and follow and all of the other good stuff that you keep on doing, it has honestly humbled me and awed me completely at how much you guys seem to really like the story. Honestly I never thought I would get such wondrous support from all of you! Not only that but I feel great knowing that I'm probably making a lot of you a little bit happier or perhaps I'm just adding to your reading list for the night. But all I can truly say is I am glad to be able to write for you guys.**

**And that is why I would like to ask you all to keep on reviewing and keep on reading. Perhaps tell your fanfic buddies about the story and get them involved. I really would like to see the numbers to continue to grow and grow so I may keep on sharing my imagination with all of you and keep you sated with what will hopefully become my masterpiece to date in terms of writing.**

**I have never planned something so ambitiously long in all my life, and I can only hope that my skills are up to the challenge of brining my wild imagination to life. I have loved every minute of this so far, and like I said before you guys are the only reason I keep this damned story running so keep on doing what you're doing. So over the next few chapters I would love to see us hit over four hundred follows and three hundred likes damn it, as well as getting the story to two hundred reviews. So please, by all means, review not only this chapter but the story as a whole, what needs fixing, what's good, bad and ugly ect.**

**And if your new or old, I would like to ask that you,**

**Read, Review, Fave and Follow, and of course,**

**Keep it real like a Ninja,**

**CBF.**

**P.S: This is the first chapter I have had Beta-d so I hope that between my efforts to be more thorough in my spelling and Fic's work that this chapter was of a slightly better standard :)**

_Quick Note: I will NOT have Percy keep the gun. Mostly because no more Mercs are gonna show up. That and guns are a wee bit out of sorts in PJO in my opinion but then again, whatever floats your boat and what not :P_

Hi peoples! I'm that Beta that was way to overloaded last chapter to - ahh - beta… yeah. Anyway, hope I did a good job, this being my first story betaing and all. Well, the best way to learn is by doing, isn't it? So bear with me, lovely sheeples (yes, it is a word – look it up) of the PJO fandom. And yes, I have wanted to say that for so long, and the opportunity presented itself, we've all had those moments. I should probably have a nice signature like CBF ( 'Keep it real like a Ninja' is freakin' awesome… ). So yeah, this probably wasn't read and just ignored… Sigh.

Wait I know!

See ya Sheeples! ^-^

That is my new sign off. HA!

iFicti0n


	11. Chapter 11: Goin' west !

Percy let out a deep breath as he examined the motley group he'd been travelling with and already, after one day, they all looked like hell.

Thalia undoubtedly looked the worst out of the entire group. Her raven black jacket was torn to shreds and there were several visible wounds on the young daughter of Zeus, most were on her arms and legs, although they seemed to be bleeding a little too much to be considered small injuries, they were by no means life threatening... anything dangerous would be done internally from the massive blow the Neman lion had apparently dealt. Zoe on the other hand looked practically the same as when the journey had started. Her hair still perfect and her face, even though it didn't matter to Percy, was still unmarred and, dare he say it, beautiful as before save the small amount of powder marks on her cheeks and jaw.

Thalia's friend, Annabeth seemed to be okay except for several cuts and what not on her arms which she more than likely acquired from Percy's little escapade with his grenade launcher in the museum… and the car on the main street… and the gas tanks outside the train yard. Smiling slightly to himself, Percy paid little attention to the last huntress, but judging from her breathing and the brief glance he had spared her, Diana seemed fine. 'Well at least no-one's dead yet,' Percy mused to himself as Annabeth crawled over to her friend and unhooked her rucksack from over her shoulders. Undoing the zip, Annabeth quickly reached into the bag and pulled out a medium-sized, silver and black Thermos which glinted ever so slightly under the slight light provided by the cracks in the door Percy was leaning against.

"Hold on Thals..." Annabeth muttered as she quickly unscrewed the thermos and lifted the bicolor tube to Thalia's mouth. The smell that radiated from the Thermos reminded him of the few times he had spent dinner with his family; from his less than cheery father to his wonderful Aunty Hestia and her cooking. The liquid inside of the thermos was absolutely enchanting, with its potent draw changing from the smell of hot chocolate to a million other creature comforts that Percy had forgotten about over his long and painful lifetime. 'Nectar. Gods how many times has that stuff saved my sorry arse?' Percy mused to himself as he watched the golden liquid of the gods pour from the flask and into the waiting daughter of Zeus' mouth.

Almost immediately, the cuts and other injuries on her body seemed to fade and her eyes slowly began to flutter open. After several more seconds she was able to open her eyes fully, finally realising who was by her side, Thalia could only smile as she managed to find her voice again, "Hey Annabeth..." she paused for several seconds before she let out a small laugh, "...gods you look like shit." She muttered causing Annabeth herself to start laughing, and if Percy wasn't mistaken, it caused two very icy huntresses to smile ever so slightly at the sight.

"Yeah well you don't look so hot yourself, Thals," she muttered with a few tears slowly beginning to make their way down her grime ridden face.

After several seconds of watching the two friends laugh, Percy found himself staring at the two oddly, 'Several hours ago they looked set to cut each-others heads off. Now they're laughing with one another like nothing ever bloody happened.' Shaking his head, Percy pulled himself up before smiling slightly at the sight, 'I swear I'll never understand how that works.'

Clearly though, Percy had caught someone's attention as he quickly found himself the target of a question, "Why are you standing up? We are safe are we not?" Zoe asked Percy suspiciously. Chuckling humorlessly at her question, Percy slowly sent his hand towards what he assumed was a light switch

"Well as much as I'd love to watch the heart-warming reconciliation, I'd feel better knowing exactly what's in the room with us." Percy stated as he slammed his hand down on the switch.

After a few moments of delay, the lights slowly warmed up and began to illuminate the train cart, and what Percy saw almost caused him to drop his jaw in shock, but he caught himself but allowed himself a small, impressed whistle. Stretching for a good fifteen or so metres, there were countless high-end super cars; Porsches, Mercedes, Ferrari's, and other such vehicles. Immediately, the Lamborghini Reventon at the back right of the cart caught Percy's undivided attention. "I have always wanted a Lambo..." Percy muttered to himself, drawing a small, almost girlish giggle from Thalia.

"Why don't you just buy one? Your dad is the god of wealth, after all." She stated matter-of-factly.

This caused Percy himself to laugh a little before he replied. "According to my father, I'm dangerous enough without being in command of one and a half tons of metal." This drew a small laugh from, rather surprisingly, everyone in the cart room.

"That I can agree with." Annabeth muttered, drawing a slightly angry glare from Thalia that Percy could see was simply screaming 'We are talking later.'

"As lovely as they may be, these automobiles are restricting the room we have to sleep in," Zoe said agitatedly. Percy let out another sigh as he glanced around the group before he waltzed up to the nearest car, a black Mercedes SUV, and yanked on the door handle, causing the door to swing wide open.

Turning back to the group, Percy allowed another smile to grace his hidden lips as he looked at the slightly shocked looks on everyone's faces.

"Looks like I found us our sleeping quarters for this evening."

(With Annabeth and Thalia; 15 minutes later; Annabeth's P.O.V)

Annabeth looked at Thalia through narrowed eyes as the older girl closed the door to the car they both now resided in, a classy Mercedes Estate.

Slowly, Annabeth allowed her hair to flow onto her face as she quickly hung her head in front of her friend. She knew what all of this was going to be about, and to be honest she could do without it. She loved Thalia like a sister and she would never let something get in-between their relationship. But this new guy – Perseus – he was an arrogant asshole who had not only beaten the crap out of Alex for asking a perfectly valid question (arguably with a somewhat "iffy" approach), he also knocked Thalia about in the Arena back at camp like she was his personal punching bag. And she knew because if there was one thing Annabeth could do, it was analyse fighting styles and what not; and she could tell just from his footwork that he had been holding back and just toying with Thalia.

After a few more moments, Annabeth found herself yanked out of her thoughts and back into reality with a brief shake of the shoulder, courtesy of Thalia, and to say that the daughter of Zeus looked somewhat angry would be an understatement.

She was MAJORLY pissed off.

"Annabeth, I assume you know why I want to talk to you?" Thalia asked the younger daughter of Athena calmly. Annabeth sighed and nodded her head.

"I know what you're going to say to me Thalia and, before I answer, I want to say I'm sorry for snapping earlier. You're like a sister to me and the only real family I have left anymore and I never want anything to come between us like that again," Annabeth dropped off for a second when she saw the small smile that had begun to grace the lips of the elder daughter of Zeus.

"But I still hate that arrogant prick." Annabeth snarled as she looked out of the back window of the Mercedes and back to the Lamborghini that Perseus was currently sitting on the roof of with an assortment of vicious looking knives and other such small objects of death, as he quickly sharpened each and every one. Thalia let her head drop slightly as she let out another heavy sigh.

"Listen to me Annabeth. He may seem like a prick but in all honesty, I kinda actually approve of what he did to Alex back in Maine." Annabeth had a mortified look on her face when she heard those words leave her best friends lips.

"How can you say that? Alex saved you and..." But Annabeth never got to finish her little rant as Thalia shot her a death glare that instantly shut the younger girl's mouth before she landed herself in further trouble with her friend.

"Annabeth. I know you have a bit of a crush on Alex," At those words Annabeth went to speak but her friend continued before she could offer her protests, sinking back into her seat with defeat written across her face in the form of a light blush, "and if he wasn't such an arrogant asshole I would be perfectly fine with it. But the fact of the matter is that he constantly uses you like a tool and in return only offers smidgens of affection, but in general he just sees you as another member of his pathetic little following."

Thalia took a deep breath as Annabeth struggled to find her voice. 'When has Alex ever done that?' One side of Annabeth's incredibly huge mind wondered before the second half began to fill up her mind with various examples. 'Distraction against the furies on the lightning bolt quest and again with Ares; he used you as bait again in the sea of monsters and gave you none of the credit.' The more and more she thought about it, the more Annabeth realised her friend was right. Alex was a dickhead most of the time and her crush was based solely on his decent looks. But that still left one question unanswered.

"So why side with him all of this time?" Annabeth asked her friend seriously.

At that question, a small smile crept across her friends lips as she spoke, "As a certain child of Hades put it, 'It is better to be the right hand of the devil than in his path.'"

Annabeth nodded in understanding. Her friend only really acted nicely towards Alex as a grudging show of thanks for getting her out of the tree on half-blood hill. It saved her from months of ridicule and torment from Alex's little group as well as becoming another apparent arrogant child of Zeus. "Fair enough, but I still don't like that Hades kid." Annabeth stated bluntly.

At those words, Thalia sighed heavily before opening the door behind her. Cocking her head in confusion, Annabeth received only a small smile from her friend as she spoke.

"Then perhaps we should pay him a little visit."

(Percy's P.O.V)

Percy slowly ran the wet stone along the length of his most prized and ancient dagger with such care and finesse you would think he was handling a baby if you saw him from a distance: the motions were so elegant and smooth, it looked as if he were tending his first-born child. 'Might as well be, never gonna have a kid am I?' Percy mumbled to himself in his thoughts as he slowly re-sheathed the blade into his forearm holder, with the short, yet graceful, ancient blade not even making the faintest of sounds as it returned to its newest home.

Percy let out a small, tired breath as he glanced up from his assortment of blades and out into the main cart area as he spied one daughter of Zeus and one annoying daughter of Athena, with a face that could currently sour milk, moving towards him. 'Great, just great. I knew the grenade launcher escapade would land me in a bit of trouble at some point.' Percy hung his head again before he quickly waved his hand over the assorted short and long daggers, each one slowly fading into the nearby shadows of the corner of the cart, each part of every weapon turning into midnight black shadows as they were pulled back to Percy's private armoury back home.

"Hey Perseus, we need to talk." Percy cocked his head back up to see Thalia and Annabeth about half a metre away from the car, both with fairly serious looking faces trained on the ancient son of Hades.

"Indeed we do, daughter of Zeus." He replied calmly as he slid off of the car and onto the floor without making a single sound. Thalia looked away for a second, as if trying to pluck up the courage to say what she wanted to. Finally, after a few seconds, she found her voice.

"Listen... I'm sorry about the way I treated you when I first met you. I - I assumed that you were just an arrogant newbie who happened to have some flashy armour, and well-" But the young daughter of Zeus found herself being cut off by a small wave of the hand from Percy.

"It's fine. I understand completely Grace. There is nothing to apologize for, after all I think we both know who the underlying issue is back at camp." Percy stated calmly in a neutral voice. After all it didn't really bother him. What bothered him, and always had, was being underestimated by his foes. But he appreciated where she was coming from and would let it slide. To say that Thalia looked shocked would be a rather large understatement. Her jaw was hanging comically low and her eyes screamed of happiness and success. Quickly shaking her head, Thalia bought herself out of her momentary shock and back into reality, which is exactly when one daughter of Athena decided to speak.

"Hey... ummmmmm Perseus. Listen I..." The girl froze momentarily, looking as if she was arguing with herself over what to say or do. Fortunately, her friend Thalia gave her a small elbow of encouragement which seemed to help the daughter of Athena find her voice again. "I know we haven't seen eye to eye..."

Percy caught her off guard with a small snort before replying, "Understatement of the century."

Annabeth let out a small, nervous chuckle before she continued. "But I want to apologise for being rude. Alex can be a bit of an arse and over-react. So I hope that we can put aside any issues and finish this quest on neutral terms."

Now it was Percy's turn to be shocked. Aside from Diana, Annabeth was the one member of the quest that Percy expected to come into conflict with at some stage of the journey. So far the girl was surprising Percy with the peace offer he had only just a few moments ago been planning on proposing. Percy let a small smile creep onto his lips from underneath his hood as he closed the distance between himself and the daughter of Athena, slowly extending his hand as he moved.

"I'm glad you said it first, daughter of Athena." Percy replied calmly, allowing his smile to grow as he watched relief wash over the young girls face as she shook his hand.

"Glad you accepted the offer," she replied with a smile. Percy nodded his head before a plan began to take shape in his mind, one that could potentially help break the ice between the two a little bit.

Percy bit his lip. He was about to break his one major rule when dealing with other people; his one way of avoiding relationships of any kind with others he hadn't already, but just this once couldn't hurt. Just this once he would let his standards slip.

"Say…Annabeth..." Percy bit his tongue slightly as he used the girl's first name, almost as if it were acid on his tongue, as he broke his major rule of calling people by surnames, unless a first name is necessary. "How about a game of Chess?"

At those words, Annabeth's head began nodding vigorously.

Percy smiled as he snapped his fingers and the shadows began bending to his will.

After all, it wasn't like one game would make them friends.

(An hour later, Zoe's P.O.V)

Zoe let out a deep sigh as she double checked her arrow count for the sixth time and by the Gods it wasn't getting any better with each recount as the same number kept on cropping up.

Four.

Four Arrows.

**_Four gods damned arrows_** !

"Shit..." Zoe muttered to herself as she packed away the few remaining arrows she had into her quiver. 'I'll have to be conservative from now on. Four shots, four kills... after that.' Zoe paused her thoughts as she unsheathed one of her hunting knives and examined the blade. An ornate blade made of Theban Silver, a metal long-lost to time, Zoe's hunting knife was a grand total of about a foot and a quarter long, with a beautiful, intricate vine design like one would expect to find growing up the side of a country house, ran up either flat side of the blade. The handle was a simple metal and leather-bound grip. Zoe smiled slightly at the feather-weight of the blade, her oldest weapon and the one thing that had saved her life more time than even her own sisters of the hunt.

'I wonder how many times it's saved my life...' After a brief count, Zoe paled slightly before shaking her head slightly.

'Way too many.'

Zoe quickly ran through the rest of her equipment to find out, rather thankfully, she still had everything else except for the arrows she fired. "Rough day, huh?" Diana stated absent-mindedly. Zoe looked up from her kit and smiled slightly at the younger hunter's slightly relaxed attitude.

"Any day when one has to shoot almost all of their arrows is bound to be rough." Zoe replied with a small smile on her face, watching as the huntress lay on her back, casually flicking a hunting knife up into the air with her right hand before casually catching it, by the tip of the blade, in her left hand.

"True enough I suppose. It would've been a lot easier if that stupid boy hadn't launched a grenade in the middle of the aerospace museum or dragged half an army's worth of mortals onto our case." Diana growled as she shot a murderous glare towards the sound of several bouts of laughter breaking out from in-between several cars a couple of metres away.

"And without Perseus we would all be six feet under by now. We had no way of beating the Neman lion and he saved us all and you know it Diana." Zoe paused for several seconds as she shot the younger huntress a serious glare, "So swallow your pride and deal with the fact like I have."

Diana looked set to argue her case but she was interrupted as one daughter of Athena, one of Zeus and a very tired looking son of Hades trampled into the clearing the two Huntresses had taken up residence in, with the former two smiling like crazy and chatting like no tomorrow with one another. "Hey ya' guys." Thalia said casually as she sat down in the gap the three had just walked through along with Annabeth whilst Perseus took the darkest corner that was the furthest from everyone else.

"Why are you here?" Diana sneered as she directed a venomous look towards Perseus.

"He's a member of this quest and I do believe he has a right to interact with the group, does he not?" Zoe looked at the ancient son of Hades with a neutral look on her face before directing the glance back to Diana. "He has just as much right to be here as any of us." She replied calmly. Diana tried to protest but one quick death glare later and Diana knew that this was an issue that was NOT open to discussion.

After that, the group fell into a slightly uncomfortable silence for several moments as Diana returned to her knife flicking whilst Perseus stared off into the distance, a concentrated and thoughtful look radiating from his deep, sea-green eyes. Eventually, Annabeth spoke up.

"Say Perseus. Where did you learn to play chess so well?" She asked calmly, but Zoe could see the analytical look in her eyes as she awaited her response. Perseus laughed slightly before speaking.

"Casual intellectual spars against Napoleon, Alexander and Sun Tzu themselves tend to provide one with the chance to improve their military skills." Perseus replied casually.

Both Thalia and Zoe found themselves laughing at Annabeth's comically low jaw and bug-eyed look. After several moments, Annabeth began bombarding Perseus with questions. "What? What are they like? Does Napoleon speak English? Is Alexander a big-head like all the books say? What's Sun Tzu like? Can I meet them?" Perseus held up his hand, and to everyone's amusement, Annabeth finally quieted down after a few moments.

"They are all nice guys. Napoleon can speak English. Alexander is not big-headed he is just short-tempered and occasionally boastful if others try to out-play his achievements. Sun is kinda difficult to talk to at first but he is a man of few words until you get to know him and if you stop asking so many questions, I'll see about you meeting one or two of them." As soon as Percy finished those words, Annabeth let out a small, fan-girl squeal as she began thanking Perseus like crazy until Thalia managed to calm her down.

After that, the group, including Diana and Zoe broke into casual conversation. Only Perseus seemed to be holding back compared to the others, offering up his words on a couple of lines of conversation. Eventually, Thalia bought up the one thing that was slowly nagging at the back of Zoe's mind. "Damn I'm hungry. What I wouldn't give for another diner round about now." She mused out loud, getting murmurs of agreement from the other girls, Zoe included.

Perseus let out a small sigh before he spoke, "What do you want?"

'What the hell is that supposed to mean?' Zoe thought as she watched Thalia's face adopted a wistful look as she spoke, "Right about now I, could really do with just a burger and fries, but given where" But Thalia never got to finish her sentence as Perseus casually clicked his fingers and a small column of orange and yellow, dancing fire appeared in front of Thalia, causing to yelp and jump back along with Annabeth in surprise. Once it died down, Zoe's eyes went wide as she saw Thalia's dream order on a plain white plate where the fire had once resided.

"How..." Thalia sputtered as she looked at the plate, shock written on her and everyone else's faces.

"My Aunt Hestia's little perk with being her champion. That and fire control… but that's another story."

At those words Thalia began laughing, "Gods, is there anything you can't do?"

Perseus sighed as he quickly looked around the rest of the group and asked what they would like, and as each order was made, the dish appeared perfectly before the individual. Once that was complete Percy stood up and slid silently over the hood of one of the other cars. "Where are you going?" Zoe called out as she watched the ancient warrior slunk off towards the back of the cart.

"To eat dinner." He calmly replied before disappearing behind an SUV.

"I think socialize is the answer you're looking for Thalia." Diana stated bluntly, causing the two campers to sigh whilst one other hunter's eyes narrowed.

Zoe was going to have to talk to him sooner or later.

And she was going to get some answers.

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**_Hey guys,_**

**_Finally on my half-term break! Oh god it feels SOOOOO good to have all of this time off now. A full week and a half of spare time...and I guess you guys have figured out what that means. Additional updates (or at least I hope...) which in turn means more reading for you and lots and lots of writing and re-writing for me (yaaaay) and beta-ing for Fic (have fun :p) but I do what I do because I like to entertain, so I suppose a little pain is worth the end result!_**

**_Any ways, sorry this chapter had a lot of talking in it but I needed to do this. I didn't really want Perseus and Annabeth to have a massive argument (yet) but nor do I want them to be exactly friends (hence "neutral" terms). That and it seemed like a good time to set up a little conversation between Zoe and Percy for the start of next chapter before we continue moving with the quest._**

**_I've seen this scene done differently by so many people I decided to change it slightly. Most have team bonding and what not at times like these. But in all honesty, Percy still doesn't trust anyone who is not his family or has earned his respect so don't expect him to become friends with people super fast like in some stories, (some may develop over time-skips for the sake of saving me several chapters worth of idle chatter). At the moment he has a slight respect for Thalia and holds no feelings now either way towards Annabeth... Diana is the only real "issue" he has at the moment (that and working with others.). Zoe is a bit of a odditty that will be explained eventually...more than likely after the quest is finished depending on what I feel is appropriate._**

**_But enough of that. Tell me what you think works well and doesn't. What's good and bad and what I need to change or leave untouched... and also tell me what you think of the story in general._**

**_And of course don't forget to,_**

**_Read, Review, Fave and Follow, and, of course,_**

**_Keep it real like a Ninja,_**

**_CBF._**

**_P.S: Let's get the story up to 200 reviews people, were already over 400 follows so let's keep it going :)_**

'Sup,

Hope I did well. And what Crazy said, let's get to 200 people! I didn't really feel like putting the 'ë' at the end of Zoe's name, so yeah… Not much to say, I'm open to constructive criticism, and advice, still learning and all that.

On another note, you can blame me for the late-ish update. I had the joy of getting sick over the weekend. And I didn't have any work either… Ah, the joys of life. Not. So, here you go.

Anybody out there watch Highlander? I found a new obsession due to days in bed with nothing but YouTube and FanFiction to keep me somewhat happy.

See ya Sheeples!

iFicti0n


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